Targeted
by LockBox22
Summary: Horatio and his team try to solve the murder of an successful ADA; but someone is trying to keep them from finding out the truth. Set just before the Season 1 premiere. CaseFile.
1. Part One

**CSI Miami: Targeted**

**Written By LockBox22**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami and everything related to it. If you recognize it, I don't own it. I only own my original storyline, plot and any original characters. Any mistakes or liberties taken are mine.**

* * *

><p>Part One:<p>

The Miami sun beat down on the pavement making waves of heat shimmer up from the concrete and promising that the day would be hot. It was a big change from the night before when the skies had opened up and a heavy rain had drenched the entire city of Miami.

Horatio Caine stood in the middle of a large home in Miami-Dade county. The architecture was very modern with stainless steel and glass replacing the usual wood and white plastic. In the living room there was one entire wall dedicated to music. Guitars hung from hooks in the wall and the book shelf was entirely filled with CDs, a couple records and a record player. An full entertainment system took centre stage with the furniture arranged around it.

The glass coffee table between the couch and the television was broken and a man lying face down in the middle of the glass and wood. It was Greg Jennings; a Assistant District Attorney in the District Attorney's office. Jennings was one of the more successful ADA's that had come around recently. His conviction rate was high and he was well respected in the department for doing all he could to get the murders and rapists convicted for highest sentence available. And now he was dead.

"Alexx, what do we got?" Horatio asked glancing down at the dark-skinned M.E, who was just beginning to examine Jennings's body.

"Two gunshot wounds to the back, very close together." Alexx said probing the wounds with gloved fingers.

"What about that third bullet wound, Alexx?" Horatio asked, his quick eye catching the discrepancy.

A frown started on Dr. Alexx Wood's forehead as she moved hair aside to get a better look at the bullet wound. "It looks like this one was delivered close range. After the two in his chest." Alexx said in astonishment. She looked up at Horatio. "It just wasn't enough to shoot him in the back; they had to shoot him in the head too."

"That sounds like a professional hit, Alexx." Horatio replied. "That means we're not looking for a ordinary killer."

"Well the bullets are still inside of him, so that should make your job a whole lot easier." Alexx said glancing over the body. "I'll get them to Calleigh as soon as I dig them out of him."

"Thank you, ma'am." Horatio said in parting as Alexx stood up to let her staff take the body. He looked up and turned slightly towards door as the rest of his team entered.

"You're late, gentlemen." Horatio gently reprimanded Eric Delko and Tim Speedle as they walked into the room gawking at the size of the house.

"Sorry, H." Speed apologized, lowering his gaze to meet Horatio's. "We got caught in traffic." He shoot a look at Delko which clearly said exactly what he thought of his colleague's driving skills.

All three of them watched as Alexx took the body out the double doors.

"Whose the victim?" Eric asked.

"Greg Jennings." Horatio replied. "He was an assistant district attorney; we're treating this like one of our own."

"He was good." Speed commented. "Never let a perp walk."

Horatio looked over his CSI's. They both were wearing dark slacks and Speed was wearing a dark shirt, but Delko had opted for a lighter, bluer shirt then his colleague. While they had been talking, the sliding glass door behind Horatio had slide open noiselessly. None of the three men had heard it.

"Bang."

Delko and Speedle both started at the voice and turned rather quickly. Horatio, knowing that someone else had been there, didn't even flinch as he turned to face the speaker.

CSI Alana Cooper was kneeling on the patio, pointing at Horatio with her gloved hand shaped into a gun. Alana was an athletic young woman who had joined Horatio's team three months earlier acting as temporary replacement for Megan Donner. Her dark hair was pulled back into a braid and she wore black pants and a blue dress shirt. Unknowingly, her clothing choice matched her boss's this morning.

"Jeez, Coop!" Delko exclaimed.

"What are you doing out there?" Speedle asked in annoyance. "Trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Retracing the killer's footsteps actually." Alana replied lowering her hand. "You know; doing my job like I'm supposed to." There was insinuations in her tone.

"Did the killer tell you anything?" Speed asked ignoring her insinuations.

"Always have to deflect like that, Speedle?" Alana teased.

"Always have to scare people like that, Cooper?" Speed shot back.

"People, time is of the essence." Horatio said interrupting the banter. The quiet order sent his CSI's back into professionalism.

"You were right, H. From here is the perfect angle to shoot Jennings." Alana said. "This is where the killer was. He definitely entered and exited this way."

"What makes you say that?" Eric asked.

Alana pulled the sliding door towards her and then pushed it away again, looking expectantly at them. Eric and Speed looked confused.

"It's a sliding door." Speed said.

Alana let out a quiet sigh. "Do you hear anything?" She asked.

"Should we?" Speed asked.

"Gentlemen, this door has been oiled recently." Horatio said tilting his head to get a better look at the sliding door. All three of them moved in for a careful look.

"Last night I'd say." Eric said. He wrinkled his nose. "I can still smell the oil."

"I also found some scratches on the lock." Alana said touching the object with her gloved hand. "The walk is paved and as far as I can tell the killer kept to it; no footprints."

"That's convenient." Speed snorted.

Horatio silently agreed with his colleague. The killer was good. That or he had too much time on his hands and knew how to avoid being caught.

"Here's what I'm thinking so far." Alana said rising from her kneeling position. "Our guy oils the sliding door and then opens the door somehow."

"He could've had a key or the victim might have let him in." Delko theorized.

"Or he picked the lock." Horatio said joining in. The comment got a couple of looks from his CSI's, but they were used to Horatio not sharing everything with them.

"He gets into the house and then, bang." Alana pointed to where Greg Jennings had been standing over the coffee table and mimic pulling a trigger. Everyone visualized Jennings falling onto the table and breaking the glass.

"What was the cause of death?" Speed asked turning to Horatio.

"Two shots to the back and then one to the head." Horatio replied. "Professional."

That one word silenced them all. Professional killers were the hardest to prosecute. They left no trace and didn't have any respect for the law-enforcement. They were dangerous.

"All right, here's what we do." Horatio said finally. "We process the house and use that evidence to find Jennings's killer. If it is a professional hit, then we need to look outside the box for this one. Be on your toes, people."

* * *

><p>The CSI's had started with the outside first since the intruder had come in the back door. There was a lot of evidence to collect. Speed found some weird trace on the walk way; Eric had found several shoe prints on the grass and in the dirt by the garden; Alana had stayed near the backdoor and found a can of WD-40, used for oiling squeaky hinges and such.<p>

Then they had moved inside and started to process the actual crime scene. Everything was carefully photographed, documented and sketched before anything was touched. When that was finished, each of the team went to their chosen tasks.

"Well at least he had good taste." Speed said as he photographed the C.D collection.

"Depends on what you mean good taste." Eric said from where he was rifling through the desk. "Everyone's definition is different."

"I don't know, Delko." Speed replied snapping another picture. "Have you heard some of the music that's coming out these days? Most of it would make the classics cry."

Eric grinned as he shook his head and went back the the mountain of paper on the large desk. The desk was large and the paper was stacked three deep.

"What would you know about music?" Alana asked conversationally from her place kneeling by the back door. She was dusting for prints. "Besides the good beats anyways."

"Isn't that why you like your music, Coop?" Eric asked with a smile.

"Hey!" She turned to him. "Do not mock my taste in music, Eric Delko. Indie rock and metal are a lot better then what you listen too."

"She's right." Speed agreed. "The Top 40 is _so_ not music, Delko."

"And your weird unheard of bands are?" Eric asked. "Most of the time I don't even know if the songs have words."

"Well when they do it's a lot better then 'shake your booty.'" Speed replied; his tone clearly telling them what he thought of said lyrics.

"Hear, hear." Alana agreed bending over her work once again.

Eric shot her a look. "Now who's mocking who?"

"I got a print." Alana said ignoring his remark as the fingerprint powder revealed the lines and arches that made up a fingerprint. She raised her eyebrow as it revealed more then one; half a dozen to be exact. "Actually I got quite a few." She corrected herself.

"Good. Maybe one of them belongs to our murderer." Eric said looking up from the paperwork he was going through; the argument all but forgotten.

"Hopefully." Alana replied as she carefully pulled the prints from the door using a print lifter. She slipped the prints into her kit and put her supplies away.

Speed lowered his camera and started to pack up his kit. "Photos are done." He said shortly. "You almost finished there, Delko?" He asked.

"No." Eric replied. He replaced a stack of papers. "This is going to take a week to get through. We're going to have to take it all back to the lab. Speed, give me a hand. We're going to need some boxes in here." Eric called to the officer standing at the doorway. The officer nodded and went outside to collect the evidence boxes from the CSI's Hummer.

Speed left his kit on the floor and went to the desk to help Eric place the papers in more manageable stacks. Loose papers littered the table top and a few fell to the floor.

"Coop, come and give us a hand." Eric called grabbing for a piece of paper and missing. There was no answer and Eric looked up, wondering where Alana had got too. Alana was standing by the back-door with a frown on her face. She was staring at the TV.

"Alana?" Eric called again.

Speed stopped what he was doing and looked up. "Cooper!" He yelled.

Alana snapped out of her daze. "Huh? Sorry." She apologized seeing their expectant looks. "Something just doesn't make sense."

"Yeah; why the guy was a good attorney, but a terrible organizer." Speed replied in annoyance, shifting his grip on the papers.

Alana barely glanced at the messy desk. "That and something else." She said. She turned back to the entertainment centre, placing herself exactly where they thought Jennings had been standing when he had been shot. "Why was Jennings standing here when he got shot? What was he looking at?" Alana wondered, speaking more to herself then Eric and Speed.

Eric frowned as the question struck a cord with him and he let go the papers he had been holding.

"Hey!" Speed protested as some of the folders slide towards him, several papers falling to the floor.

"You're right." Eric said to Alana coming around the table. "Something had to be keeping his attention."

"But what?" Alana asked quietly. "The TV wasn't on when we got here." She walked towards the broken coffee table and stared down into it. She looked up and frowned again. "The stereo's on. Who leaves a stereo on in middle of the night?"

"Half of Miami does." Eric replied. "We're one of the biggest electricity wasters."

"You're kidding." Speed asked. He had long abandoned the papers and was now beside Eric watching Alana.

"No, I'm not. It probably has to do with all the clubs in the city." Eric replied.

Alana carefully stepped around the glass; hearing it crunch underfoot. And then, bending down, she pressed the play button on the stereo. The CD player spun and a moment later, rock music blasted out of the speakers at the highest volume possible.

Alana pulled back and put one hand over her ear; she had been kneeling right next to one of the speakers. Speed shouted something to her, but she couldn't hear him over the noise. The volume had been set on it's highest setting.

Eric was to busy covering his ears to do anything. Speed motioned for Alana to turn it off even though she was already reaching for the volume dial. She turned it all the way to one where they could just faintly hear the music. Or could have if their ears hadn't been ringing.

"Nice going, Cooper." Speed said sarcastically massaging his left ear. "That's twice in one day."

"What?" Alana asked in confusion. Her hearing was still a little off.

"He's said, nice going!" Eric repeated with a glare.

Horatio came quickly into the room with the officer that had gone to get the evidence boxes for them. Horatio had been going through the rest of house while his CSI processed the scene. "What as that?" He asked in concern.

"What?" All three of his CSI's asked in unison.

"I said, what was that?" Horatio asked pitching his voice a little louder.

"Music." Speed replied. Then he frowned. "Or at least I think it was." He quipped.

"This could explain why Jennings didn't hear his attacker until it was too late." Eric said in realization. "He had his music up too loud."

"He died for want of a song." Alana quipped.

* * *

><p>Once back at the lab, all four of them set to processing the evidence that had been brought back from the Jennings's house.<p>

Eric took the fingerprints and shoe casts that he had made; Alana took the can of WD-40 that she had found and set about finding prints; Speed took the weird trace that had been found on the walkway and Horatio went to visit Alexx.

The morgue was quiet and there was always that funny smell that clung to your clothing, branding you for the rest of the day. Alexx had finished the autopsy while they had been at the scene and was ready for Horatio. He was always impressed by her sense of timing.

"What did Mr. Jennings tell you?" Horatio asked, looking down at Alexx through the glass partition that separated them.

"Nothing much." Alexx admitted. "I wish I had more to give you Horatio. Mr. Jennings was a healthy man; in excellent shape. He was only thirty-five; too young to die."

"How about the gunshot wounds, Alexx?" Horatio asked looking at the wounds using the monitor to his right.

"Just like I thought." Alexx said. She motioned to the orderly to help her and together, they turned Mr. Jennings's body over, exposing the bullet wounds to his back. "First, he was shot twice in the back from at least three feet away."

Alexx lowered Mr. Jennings back down to the metal table. "And then once more in the back of the head; close range. The bullet bounced around his brain and I was only able to recover fragments."

Alexx placed her hand on Jennings's forehead gently. "Fortunately, the bullets from his back were intact. I sent them and the fragments up to Calleigh."

"How close was the shooter?" Horatio asked.

"The killer held the weapon right against his head and pulled the trigger." Alexx replied.

Horatio looked closely at the photo that he held in his hand. "Is that a muzzle stamp?" He asked looking back down at the body.

Alexx turned Jennings's head so the back was facing her. "It is." She said. She looked up at Horatio. "I'll cast it and send it up to Calleigh."

"Thank you, Alexx." Horatio said before walking out of the observation room.

* * *

><p>Upon getting back to the lab, Eric and Alana had secluded themselves in the print lab. Eric with the prints from the back door and Alana with the can of WD-40 that she had found in the bushes.<p>

Eric ran the prints through AFIS and Alana set up the fuming chamber to get prints from the can.

Fingerprint matches were long in coming for Eric. He stared at the computer, willing it to beep. Behind him at the table, Alana had finished fuming and was now looking over the can, which was clean. "Damn." She muttered softly.

"Nothing?" Eric asked turning to face her.

"Nothing." Alana replied putting the can down on the table. She shucked off her gloves and came over to him. "Any matches yet?" She asked looking at the computer screen.

"Nothing yet." Eric said turning back to the computer screen. The computer beeped. "Oh, here we go." The computer showed the print match on it's screen. "Roger Gallagher. He was a POI in a B&E at a judge's home last year."

"Nice." Alana congratulated him.

"I call Horatio." Eric said reaching for the desk phone.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Speed was in the Trace lab. He had gotten a sample of the weird sticky stuff that he had found along the back walk way of the Jennings house and stuck it through the Mass Spec to see what the stuff was made off. While the machine worked, Speed had nicked the victim's clothing that Alexx had sent up and was examining them for trace.<p>

A rock band playing through his headphones, Speed spread Jennings's clothing out on the table. Jennings had been dressed for an evening at home with jeans and a t-shirt. He had been barefoot. The t-shirt had blood on it and Speed grabbed a sample to send to DNA, to confirm that the blood was Jennings's.

The jeans were harder and Speed used a magnifying glass to closely study the material. There were little bits of glass embedded in the dense fabric, but nothing else.

The printer in the corner made a buzzing sound, meaning that the mass spec was finished tasting the trace that he had sent through it. Speed walked over and grabbed the paper out of the tray. He walked back to the table to study it.

Alana walked into the room and found Speed at the table; headphones on and eyes glued to the paper in front of him. His right hand tapped out the rhythm of the song he was listening too. He was unaware that she had entered the room.

Alana got an wicked grin on her face. Carefully, she sneaked up the desk. It wasn't fair really; she had already scared him once today, but she still hadn't forgiven him and Eric for the 'dead body' prank that they had pulled on her first time out.

Alana leaned on the table, rested her chin on her hand and waited. A few minutes later, Speed looked up and then jumped. Alana straightened up as Speed ripped his headphones from his ears, letting them fall around his neck.

"My god, Cooper! Do you ever have a problem!" Speed exclaimed half angry, half annoyed.

"Payback's a bitch." Alana replied cheerfully. "What you got?"

"Crap." Speed replied.

"Excuse me?" Alana asked with a frown.

"Dog poo plain enough for you?" Speed asked. "Because that's what it is. Here." He handed Alana the paper.

"Interesting." Alana muttered glancing over the paper. "Mixed with gum?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yup." Speed replied. "Our killer's shoe picked up some gum and then he walked through dog poo."

"Nice." Alana replied sarcastically, handing the paper back to Speed. "It could be anyone then."

"Anyone who walked through gum and then dog poo in the last day." Speed replied taking back the paper. "How'd you and Eric do with fingerprints?"

"Eric got a match; Roger Gallagher. POI of an B&E at a judge's home last year." Alana replied. "He and Horatio went to check it out."

"And what are you up too besides scaring your colleagues?" Speed asked dryly.

"Jennings's papers." Alana replied ignoring the jibe. "I was wondering if you wanted to give me a hand? If you're done with your crap that is." She said offhandedly.

"Quite." Speed replied dryly.

"Good." Alana said. "I'll be in the conference room." She called back over her shoulder as she exited the Trace lab.

* * *

><p>"Sit." The tall, beefy detective placed Roger Gallagher into the chair across the table from where Horatio was standing.<p>

"I didn't do anything wrong, man!" Gallagher protested scooting forward so he could place his cuffed hands on the metal tabletop.

"Then why'd you run, Roger?" Horatio asked stepping forward.

Gallagher lived in one of the more run down neighbourhoods in the city and when Horatio and Eric had knocked on the door, announcing themselves, Gallagher had run out the back. Both of them, along with the officers and detective, had given chase and caught Gallagher just before he had attempted to carjack a couple.

The gun had been controlled and was now with Calleigh in the gun lab where she would determine if the gun matched the kind used to murder Greg Jennings.

Roger didn't answer Horatio. A muscle jumped in his cheek as he turned away from the investigator.

"We contracted your parole officer." Horatio told Gallagher. "He told us that you missed your last check-in."

"I was busy." Gallagher replied sullenly.

"Busy murdering Greg Jennings?" Horatio asked.

"What? No, man! No!" Gallagher protested. "I didn't go near no ADA!"

"Then what are your prints doing in his house?" Horatio asked, carefully placing the paper that held the fingerprint match on the table in front of Gallagher.

Gallagher pulled the paper towards him and glanced it over. "Ok." He shoved the paper back towards Horatio. "I was there, but he was alive when I left." Gallagher tapped the table with one finger for emphasis.

"Why were you doing in Greg Jennings home?" Horatio asked. "And don't lie to me, Roger."

"I went there to talk to the guy alright?" Gallagher replied. "He's the one who put me in jail and on a false charge too! I didn't break into no judge's house! The DA's office is planting evidence, man."

"What happened at the house?" Horatio asked again.

"We argued." Gallagher replied. "He threatened to call the police so I left. End of story." He shrugged.

"You better not be lying to me, Roger." Horatio warned the younger man. "Because I will always find the truth."


	2. Part Two

CSI Miami: Targeted

Part Two

* * *

><p>Horatio made his way to the gun lab. Calleigh had been at court earlier this morning which meant she had missed out on the beginning of the case. As always the gun lab held the smell of gun oil and the sharp, stinging smell of gunpowder.<p>

Calleigh stood bent over a microscope at the table. Behind her on the screen, bullet striations were being matched with a computer program. Calleigh's long hair was tied back today, keeping it out of her face as she worked.

"Calleigh." Horatio said softly as not to scare her.

"Horatio." Calleigh greeted him cheerfully not looking up from the microscope. "I assume you're here about your bullets that Alexx pulled out of Greg Jennings."

"Yes, ma'am." Horatio replied.

"And I assume you want to know if they match the gun that you found on Roger Gallagher." Calleigh continued.

Horatio smiled. As always, she was anticipating his needs. "What do you have for me, Calleigh?" He asked.

Calleigh took her eyes away from the scope and looked up at him. "I can tell you the bullets are nines. Most common gun on the street." She told him and then smiled. "But I assume you already knew that."

She turned to the screen and pointed. "I've lined up the bullets from our victim's body and the bullets from Gallagher's gun. As you can see they don't match. This isn't our gun."

Horatio nodded. He has suspected as much. Gallagher had been truthful when he'd told Horatio he didn't do it. "How about the muzzle stamp?" He asked.

"That took a little more digging." Calleigh replied. "I had to go old school and look through my books. The muzzle stamp is from a Sig Sauer P226; it's a semi-automatic pistol. What's puzzling is that this type of gun is usually used by law-enforcement."

"You're saying the shooter could be a police officer?" Horatio asked raising an eyebrow.

"Or ex-military." Calleigh replied. "I know that there are several branches of the military that use this type of gun. But anyone who knows gun dealer could get their hands on one of them. There's plenty floating around on the street."

Horatio nodded. "How was court?" He asked.

"Good." Calleigh replied with a smile turning back to her microscope. "Thanks for asking."

Horatio watched her for a moment and then his phone rang. He picked up and turned away from Calleigh. "Yeah? Where? I'm on my way."

"What's up?" Calleigh asked looking up on hearing the professional tone creep back in Horatio's tone.

"They found another body." Horatio replied.

* * *

><p>The house was in one of the better parts of Miami and it looked lived in; a home. Horatio looked down at the body of the young woman. She looked young even though her driver's license placed her at more then thirty. She had been doing well for herself with a husband and a young boy still in grade school. A cell phone lay in her outstretched hand, half a phone number dialed; one last ditch effort to save herself.<p>

Horatio looked up at Eric entered the small bathroom. It was already crowded with Alexx and Horatio inside. Eric took a quick glance at the body on the floor and then fixed his gaze on Horatio.

"It's Erika James." Eric told Horatio. "She was the secretary for the DA's office; Jennings's office."

"Poor girl." Alexx murmured from her place kneeling on the cold tile floor. "What was your boss into?"

"Cause of death, Alexx?" Horatio asked.

"Same as our other victim." Alexx replied. "Two gunshot wounds to the back and one to the head; close range. She had her whole life ahead of her, Horatio. Whoever did this deserves whatever you throw at him."

"We're going to get him, Alexx." Horatio promised, looking at Erika's blood spattered body. "We're going to get him."

Horatio sent Eric to processing the bathroom after Alexx had removed Erika James's body and went into the living room where Calleigh was taking a walk-through of the home.

Calleigh had stopped at the fireplace mantle and was looking at the pictures of the James family when Horatio walked in. Calleigh returned the family photo to the mantle and turned around.

"Calleigh." Horatio greeted her. "What do you got?"

"Killer came in the backdoor." Calleigh replied pointing towards the entrance and walking closer to it. "There's no sign of forced entry; the killer had a key or picked the lock."

"Just like the Jennings home." Horatio confirmed.

"The first shot happened here." Calleigh said. She turned and faced the hallway that lead to the bathroom and bedrooms. "We have high velocity blood spatter on the wall here." She pointed. "This side table has blood on it; she touched this and then continued down the hall."

"Erika was holding a cell phone." Horatio said. "She probably grabbed it from the hall table on her way to the bathroom."

"The second shot happened in the entrance to the bathroom." Calleigh continued as she walked down the hall. "The spatter looks like happened on an angle. I'm guessing she turned as the shooter fired."

"Then the third shot; close range." Horatio finished as they reached the bathroom where Eric was. He looked up at them. "Bang." Horatio said visualizing the final shot.

All three of them fell silent for a moment.

"I'm going to look for shell casings." Calleigh said finally. "The officer's first on scene said that the neighbours reported hearing gunshots. Maybe the killer didn't have time to clean up after himself this time."

Horatio slipped on his sunglasses as he stepped from the house into the bright sunlight. The usual onlookers were held back by the officers and the yellow, crime scene tape that was stretched along the driveway of the house. But there was one man who shoved his way through the crowd and was stopped by an officer.

"That's my house!" The dark haired man shouted trying to look past the officer. "My wife's inside!"

Horatio quickly made his way down the stairs. "Let him pass, officer."

The officer glanced back once and then let go of the man.

"Are you in charge here?" The man asked straightening his jacket. He was tall and clean shaven, handsome if he hadn't had the concerned look on his face. "Is my wife alright?"

"Sir. I need you to take a deep breath and and calm down for me. Can you do that?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah." The man took a breath.

"I'm Lt. Caine from the Crime Lab. Are you Mark James?" Horatio asked.

"Yes, I'm Mark James. Excuse me, Crime Lab? What's going on here? Is my wife alright?" James looked scared.

"Your wife is the reason we're here, sir." Horatio replied gently. "She's been murdered."

"What?" The look on James's face could only be described as shock and then pain. "Oh god, no. No, no, no." James repeated running a hand through his hair. "I just talked to her an hour ago. She stayed home today because she wasn't feeling well. She asked me to pick Cody up from school. Oh, god. Cody!"

Jame spun towards the street.

"Cody? That's your son?" Horatio interrupted, stepping back into James's line of sight.

"Yes." Jame replied turning back to Horatio. "He's in the car. Murdered?" James still looked shocked. "How? When? I told her working at the DA's office wasn't safe. I should've made her quit." His reaction switched from shock to denial and quickly back again.

"Quit? Was your wife thinking about leaving the DA's office?" Horatio asked.

"No. I mean, I wanted her to leave, but she said she couldn't. Something about a important case they were working on."

James was compartmentalizing things, focusing on anything besides the news he had just received. Horatio saw the signs. "Did she say anything about what that might be?" He asked, hoping to keep the man talking.

"She couldn't." James replied. "The office doesn't allow it. Besides we have a strict rule. We never talk about our work, Lt. Caine."

"Our work?" Horatio asked.

"I'm in private security." James replied. His tone lowered. "I can't believe this is happening."

Horatio looked up and saw that Alexx was preparing to bring the body out of the house. He moved to block James's view. "I'm going to get this officer to stay with you. Officer." Horatio motioned an officer over.

Meanwhile, Alana and Speed arrived and ducking under the tape, walked up to the house. They walked past Alexx wheeling the body out of the house and went inside.

Calleigh was in the living room photographing the first blood spatter pattern. She threw a quick smile at Alana and Speed as they walked in. "About time you two showed up."

Speed shot a quick look at Alana. "_Someone _turned off their cell phone and I had to hunt them down."

Alana shot a glare at Speed. "It died." She replied. "You know some of us are human and forget to charge our phones once and awhile."

"What happened?" Speed asked ignoring Alana's jibe.

"Jennings's secretary Erika James was murdered." Eric informed them coming in from the hallway. "Same MO as Jennings. She had a husband and a kid."

"Damn." Speed muttered.

"I need you to take a look at this trace I found in the bathroom." Eric said to Speed. "I think it's the same stuff you found at Jennings's home." The two men took their kits and went into the small bathroom.

"What's going on with you two?" Calleigh asked Alana after Speed was out of earshot.

Alana glanced down the hallway when Speed has disappeared into the bathroom. "Remember the 'dead body' prank that he and Eric pulled?" Alana made air quotes around the word.

Calleigh nodded. She had come in on the tail end of the joke and Alana had assumed she had been in on it. There had been some tension until Calleigh had explained that she had known nothing about the prank. Since then they had become fast friends.

"Well payback's a bitch." Alana finished using the simplest explanation. "So far it's me two; Speed one. The back door's point of entry, right?" Alana asked walking over to the back door, signalling that the conversation was over.

"Yeah; I found some scratches along the lock." Calleigh replied. She eyed Alana for a moment. Ever since transferring in from patrol three months ago, Alana had quickly picked up the skills and proven her worth as a fingerprint tech. But Calleigh kept getting the feeling that Alana was keeping more something hidden. It wasn't an out of place feeling. Most cops kept their personal lives to themselves; Calleigh included.

Alana took her camera and kit over to the backdoor and set them down. She pulled on her gloves and got out her fingerprinting kit, preparing to dust the entire back door for prints. "How was court this morning?" She asked Calleigh as she picked up her brush.

"Good." Calleigh replied. "He was convicted; life in prison."

"Good." Alana said simply as she set to work.

Calleigh photographed the blood spatter around the house and processed the side table, taking a sample of the blood to make sure that it was their victims.

Alana worked quietly as well. The back door was completely dusted for fingerprints and she photographed a couple different sets. She lifted them and placed the prints into her kit for safekeeping. The lock was also photographed and then Alana searched around the yard.

Calleigh searched for casings next. She knelt down to look under the couch and chair to see if any casing had rolled underneath them. The floor under the couch was surprisingly clean. There was a sock and a toy train, but other then that was free of dust. Calleigh's light hit something that reflected and looking harder, she saw that a computer disc had been taped to the underside of the couch.

Calleigh pulled it off and drew back, holding the disc in her hand. "Hello." She muttered softly.

"Calleigh?" Horatio asked from behind her.

Calleigh turned and rose to her feet. "It's a computer disc." She replied. "I found it taped underneath the couch." Now why would a mom go to all the trouble of hiding a computer disc?"

"Maybe there's something on that disc that no one is supposed to see." Horatio suggested.

Eric and Speed walked into the living room, carrying their kits. "We're done." Eric announced. He turned slightly to include Horatio in the conversation. "I collected some prints from the bathroom. I'll run them when we get back to the lab, see if we get a hit."

"I found some more trace on the floor." Speed continued. "It looks like the same stuff I found on the walkway at Jennings's house."

All four of them turned as Alana re-entered the house through the backdoor. She was carrying a bag and a box in one hand and in the other was her kit. Her camera hung around her neck and she had a pleased grin on her face. "I found a footprint." She announced. "It isn't much, but I doubt that secretaries or kids wear combat boots. What does her husband do?"

"He's in private security." Horatio replied. His answer gave everyone pause.

"So he could be involved in both murders." Speed stated finally. "Maybe Jennings was having an affair with his secretary?"

"Then why break in?" Calleigh asked. "I found scratches along the lock."

Alana nodded, confirming Calleigh statement. "I also found another can of WD-40. It looks like the same kind used at Jennings's house. It doesn't make any sense for her husband to make it look like a break in."

"He could've staged the entire thing. Make it look like there's an unknown killer running around Miami." Eric suggested.

"Let's check him out." Horatio ordered. "I'll get the officers to bring him in. Calleigh, Eric. Stay here and look for anything that connects Mark James to either murders. Speed, Alana. Take the evidence back to the lab. Alana, I want you to look at the computer disc that Calleigh found. Mr. James told me that his wife was working on a important case but she didn't give him details. That disc might contain them."

* * *

><p>The ride back to the Crime Lab was silent; both Speed and Alana were content to ignore one another. They worked well with each other in the field, because it was their job and both of them weren't about to let a little prank war ruin their careers. But the silence was heavy and thick.<p>

Both were glad when they finally reached the lab. Speed stuck the Hummer into park and Alana jumped out. She pulled open the back of the Hummer to grab the evidence. There were two boxes and she grabbed the one that held the prints and casts.

Speed came around and grabbed the second box as Alana started to walk away.

"What, you're not talking to me now?" Speed asked grabbing the second box as Alana turned towards the building.

Alana turned around. "You want me to say something?" She asked shifting the box to her hip. "Ok. I'll say something. You pretended to be a dead body and then half scared me to death. You were lucky that I wasn't armed. I would have shot you, Speedle."

"That was two months ago, Alana." Speed replied tucking his box under his arm so he could close the back of Hummer. "Are you really that petty that you have to hold a grudge?"

"I'm_ not_ holding a grudge." Alana replied walking closer to her colleague.

"Then what do you call those two times you scared me today?" Speed asked. He shrugged. "Were you bored?"

Alana held up her finger pinched close together. "Maybe a little." She replied.

"Jeez, Alana! Can you please give me at least one honest answer?" Speed exclaimed.

They stood there for a moment, looking each other in the eye.

"Ok." Alana said finally. "When you scared me I become afraid of what I could have done. Horatio gave me a second chance and I was scared I could've screwed it up because of what you did. It was easier for me to get sarcastic and angry with you then to admit I was scared."

There was another moment of silence as Speed digested what she had said. "I'm sorry." He replied finally. "I didn't know. It was just a prank."

"I get it. Just...working patrol tends to make you a little jumpy." Alana said. Her voice held a sad note that Speed wondered at. "How about I forgive you and we move on?" Alana continued on a lighter note.

"Deal. Truce." Speed held out his free hand, Alana took it and they shook.

Together, they headed towards the lab. Speed eyed Alana as they walked. Had something happened to her on patrol? He had picked up the feeling that she was a little high-strung when they had first met on a case last year and had mentioned this to Horatio when Alana had come to work with them only to find out that Horatio already knew.

"_She's a good cop."_ Horatio had told him._ "She deserves a second chance." _

Speed had taken that explanation without question, setting aside his suspicions. He had been the beneficiary of Horatio's second chances once or twice. All CSIs knew that Horatio had their back no matter what and that he would give them the benefit of the doubt in any situation. He was jerked out of his thoughts as Alana spoke again.

"And just for the record, the first time today was an accident." Alana said turning slightly towards Speed as they walked up the steps. "The second time was for fun." She grinned. "If you give it out, you have to be willing to take it back."

Alana took a moment to compose herself before walking into the Fingerprint Lab. That had been a lot harder then she had thought, but she felt better for it. She liked Speed and was glad that they had been able to come to an understanding.

Joesph Kayle was bent over the table with a magnifying glass comparing two prints by hand.

"You know they have machines for that now." Alana quipped as she set down the box down on the tabletop.

Kayle looked up with a grin. "But the machines don't have my awesome eyes. How you doing, Alana?"

"Good." Alana replied. "I have some prints for you to run."

"Alright." Kayle said. "Let's see them."

Alana broke the seal on the box and explained where the prints had come from to Kayle. The two of them started the process of the running the prints through the system.

"Let's see if we can find any unknowns." Alana said as she pulled up a chair.

* * *

><p>Back at the James's house, Eric and Calleigh were busy searching the house from top to bottom. Eric took the bedroom and Calleigh the closets. It didn't take them long to find what they were looking for.<p>

"Look what I found." Eric said coming into the hallway from the master bedroom. He held up a Sig Sauer P226 semi-automatic pistol.

Calleigh stood from where she had been kneeling in front of the hall closet. "That's our gun alright." She replied and then held up a pair of black combat boots. "Want to trade?" She asked with a quick grin.

Eric grinned back. "Sure."

* * *

><p>At Miami-Dade Police Department, Horatio stared through the glass at Mark James. They had keep him in the conference room for about an hour now. Horatio wanted to talk to him, but he needed more evidence. At the moment, they had nothing on James except for his job and that wasn't enough evidence for Horatio.<p>

He turned as Calleigh walked towards him, heels clicking on the floor. "What do you got?" Horatio asked as Calleigh reached his side.

"Eric found a gun that matches the same type used to murder Erika and Jennings." Calleigh replied. "I also found a pair of combats boots in the closet and Alana confirmed that they match the footprints that she found in the backyard. Now the footprint can be easily explained, but the gun it going to be a little harder. I'm going to run so tests to make sure it's the same gun."

"Thank you, ma'am." Horatio replied.

Calleigh nodded and then turned back towards the lab.

Horatio turned back to the glass. He had something now.

* * *

><p>"Mr. James." Horatio greeted the man as he walked into the conference room.<p>

"What's going on here?" James wanted to know rising as Horatio entered the room. "You've kept me waiting for over an hour. Do I need a lawyer?"

"Do you?" Horatio asked setting the folder down on the table in front of him.

"Do I...No. Of course not." James replied. "Just tell me what's going on here, Lt. I was a cop for five years before I got in private security. I know how the game works so cut the crap and tell me why the hell I'm here."

Horatio eyed James as he waited for the man to finish his rant. "Sit down, Mr. James."

With a internal sigh, James did as he was asked.

Horatio looked down at the folder on the table in front of him and opened it, pulling out a couple photos. "You wife was murdered with a Sig Sauer P226 semi-automatic pistol. The same kind of gun that you own." Horatio placed the photo in front of James.

James glanced down at the picture and then back up at Horatio. "You think I did this." He stated. His voice turned cold. "You are dead wrong. I love my wife."

"We also found a combat boot print in the grass in the backyard." Horatio continued. "It matches the boots that you wear."

"I didn't kill my wife." James insisted between clenched teeth. "That boot print could've gotten there anytime when I was outside."

"What about the gun?" Horatio asked.

"Many military and police departments use that kind of gun." James replied, dismissing the evidence. "I'm not the only one in Miami. I imagine some of your officers carry them."

Horatio slowly gathered the photos. He didn't like Jame's insinuation that a cop could've done this; let alone one of the officers in this department.

"Where were you this afternoon?" Horatio asked.

"I was at my office until three o'clock." James replied. "That's when I left to pick up my son from school. Check with my office."

"We will." Horatio replied as he turned away from James, preparing to leave the room.

"I didn't murder my wife." James protested one last time. "You have to believe me."

"I don't have to believe anything except the evidence." Horatio replied before pushing open the door and leaving the interrogation room.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Mark James walked out of the Miami Police Department as a free man. Horatio had to let James go. Calleigh had confirmed that the gun James owned was not the gun used to murder Erika even though it was the same type. James's alibi had also checked out. He had been at his office all until three; video surveillance confirmed it.<p>

In lieu of their prime suspect being cleared, Horatio gathered his CSIs together to go through their evidence. All four of them met in the Layout room and presented their findings.

Speed has recovered the same sticky residue from the walkway outside the home and a tiny bit more in the bathroom. The killer had been the same one.

The slugs from Erika James's body had matched the ones from Jennings's body and even though there was no muzzle stamp, Calleigh was sure they had come from the same gun.

Alana had ran all the prints and found no-unknowns. All the prints recovered had matched Erika, her husband and Cody, their son.

"We missing our motive, people." Horatio said looking at the evidence spread out on the layout table in front of him. "Why kill Greg Jennings and Erika James?"

"Well we know that it wasn't because Erika and Jennings were having an affair." Speed replied. "Besides the husband has an alibi."

"And an airtight one at that." Alana commented.

"And it wasn't revenge." Eric said. "If someone had a grudge against Jennings for putting them in prison, killing Erika doesn't make any sense."

Calleigh nodded in agreement with Speed and Eric. "It's looking like a professional kill. No evidence, nothing left out of place. The killer even took the time to clean up his casings."

Horatio glanced towards the conference room where the boxes from Jennings's office sat. Papers from Alana's previous attempt to comb through the boxes sat on the table.

"The answer has to be in Jennings's active cases." Horatio said aloud. "We need to go through these boxes."


	3. Part Three

CSI Miami: Targeted

Part Three

* * *

><p>After staying overtime at the lab to go through the boxes upon boxes of papers that had yet to yield any results, Horatio had insisted that they all go home and get some sleep.<p>

"_We need fresh eyes to go through this." _Horatio had said. All of them had agreed and went straight home for some well deserved rest.

The next morning was bright, sunny and warm; as was usual for spring in Miami. The beach was already starting to fill up even though it was still early. The slap of Alana's shoes against the sidewalk felt good to her. Running always took her mind off work. She decided on a run this morning before going into work. Even though her sleep had been short, the rest had done her mind well.

She felt focused and ready to hit the papers again. Even after spending two years as a cop and almost one as a CSI, Alana still couldn't believe what people could do to each other. She did love being a CSI; Horatio Caine was a dedicated criminologist and a great boss, but sometimes the job got to her.

Her brown pony-tail swinging, Alana dodged around a mother pushing a stroller and nudged her I-pod's volume up a notch. She slowed down as she turned a corner and took advantage of a nearby bench to stretch her legs. Alana checked her watch and then headed for home; her shift started in an hour.

The apartment building where she lived was one of the more affordable, but still hip, areas of Miami. Once on the third floor, Alana pulled her keys from the zipper pocket on the back of her shorts and opening the door, stepped inside.

A dark haired man sat in her living room. He folded the newspaper and set it on the couch beside him as Alana shut the door behind her. Alana turned and then froze as she caught sight of the intruder inside her home.

"Hello, Alana." The man said standing from her couch. He motioned to her holster on the couch beside him. "I took the precaution of removing any temptation you might have to shoot me. I hope you don't mind that I let myself in."

Alana tossed her keys onto the side table. "Not at all. Make yourself at home, Burke." She said sarcastically, faking an easy manner as she crossed her arms and eyed the man in front of her warily.

"I need you to do something for me." Burke said after a moment.

"What?" Alana laughed shortly in surprise. Her tone turned cold. "You have no right to come in here and say that to me. Not after what you did."

Burke waved a hand as if dismissing her words. "Yes, yes. You hate me and will kill me if you ever get a chance, etc, etc. That still doesn't change the fact that it was your fault in the first place." He shrugged. "Besides, you know what will happen to you if you refuse to comply."

Alana took a step towards Burke, fists clenched in anger; nails digging into her palms. "Don't you dare threaten me!" She told him coldly.. "You have no right to..."

"No. I have every right." Burke interrupted stepping towards her. "Threatening you is only a small part of what I can to to make your life miserable. Your friends and family are also not off limits to us. No one is." He stared her down with his cold, blue eyes.

Alana stared at him for a moment, weighing her options. "What do you want me to do?" She asked finally.

All the tension in the room lessened some as Burke's tone became light. "I understand that your boss is heading the Greg Jennings/Erika James investigation." He said running a finger along the edge of the table. He looked up at her. "There are some files that Jennings gave to Erika; a computer disc. I need you to retrieve the disc and bring it to me."

Alana laughed harshly. "That's it? Stealing evidence is a federal offence you know."

"Oh, I can protect you." Burke told her. "No one else can see those files."

"Then walk into the evidence locker and sign them out." Alana shot back. "You're the FBI, surely you can do something about it."

"Alana." Burke looked at her in disappointment.

"At least tell me why you want the disc." Alana said taking a step towards Burke. "Is your porn on it?" She asked sarcastically.

Burke hit her across the face and then grabbed her, shoving her up against the wall. "This wasn't my first choice you know." He said getting in her face. "You never know when to shut up and I don't like you very much. Get me that disc or my face will be the last one that your friends will ever see." He let her go and stalked out of the apartment, tossing an envelope on the floor.

The door slammed shut behind Burke and Alana suddenly found that her legs refused to support her. She sank to the floor.

She glanced over at the manilla envelope and then grabbed it, dragging it towards her. She picked it up and pulled out the contents. They were photographs. Alana flipped through them quickly, her heart beating faster with each new photo.

Hands shaking, Alana tossed the pictures on the floor and stood, grabbing her cell phone from the side table. She flipped it open and quickly dialled the number that she knew by heart.

She glanced down at the surveillance photos on the floor as the phone line connected. Calleigh, Eric, Speed and Horatio's faces stared back at her, blissfully unaware that they had been targeted by a very dangerous man.

* * *

><p>At the Crime Lab, Eric and Speed were busy going through Jennings's papers. Horatio had put them on it as soon as they had walked through the door. Calleigh had gotten off easy as she had other cases on the go at the moment and was needed in the gun lab.<p>

Speed checked his watch for the third time in five minutes. "She's late." He muttered.

"Sorry?" Eric asked looking up from the papers he was studying. "Did you say something?"

"I said, Alana's late." Speed repeated, looking back at the papers in front of him. "She's never late."

"What's going on with you two anyways?" Eric asked replacing the papers in the box that they had designated the finished pile. "It seems like you two have been at each other throats constantly."

"Well you don't need to worry about that any longer." Speed replied. "We made up."

"Finally!" Eric exclaimed.

"Why?" Speed asked. "When you'd make up?"

"Ages ago." Eric replied.

"Figures." Speed muttered.

"Hey!" Eric protested. "We share a lab. Besides, I just had to tell her that you were the one who put me up to it and then we were good." He grinned.

"Funny, Delko." Speed replied dryly, throwing his papers in the finished box on his side of the table. "Real funny."

* * *

><p>Down at reception, Horatio stopped in front of the desk and waited until the officer on duty, Jessica Hayes, looked up from her computer. "Morning, Horatio." She greeted him.<p>

"Jessica." Horatio nodded back.

"Here to pick your mail?" Jessica asked getting up to go the cubbyhole where the mail for the Crime Lab was stored after being retrieved from the main department.

Horatio nodded even though Jessica's back was already turned. This had become a daily routine for them. Every morning Horatio would walk onto the floor and pick up his mail before going up to the office.

"Didn't see you come in this morning." Jessica said sorting through the stack. "Late night?" She asked coming back to the desk.

"In a manner of speaking." Horatio replied taking the stack of envelopes she held out. Horatio had worked late last night and then had come in earlier then he usually did. There were one or two things that didn't make sense about this case and he had wanted to go over the evidence one more time before his team had come in.

"Thanks, Jessica." Horatio replied starting towards the elevators. He pressed the call button and shuffled through the stack of mail while he waited. Most of it was the usual memos and some notices; Horatio looked up as the elevator doors dinged and then opened.

Alana stood in the elevator; she looked up rather quickly and froze when she saw who it was. Horatio noticed this hesitation and let a small frown crease his brow. Alana wasn't usually hesitant around him. He stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed behind him.

"Crime Lab?" Horatio asked.

"Yes." Alana replied quickly.

Horatio left the buttons alone and stood beside Alana. He glanced over his newest CSI as the elevator started to move. Alana had opted for the simple look today with jeans and a simple blue shirt. She wore her shoulder length-hair loose and dark sunglasses even though the building was already dark enough.

Horatio watched her as she fidgeted, looking anywhere but at him. "You're late." He said gently, starting out simple.

"Sorry, Horatio. It won't happen again." Alana replied. She still didn't fully look at him and Horatio knew exactly what she was trying to hide.

"Alana. Take off your sunglasses." Horatio ordered softly.

He saw how her body froze and tensed up, but Alana did as he asked. She reached up and slowly pulled the lenses off. Horatio stepped closer to her. Alana refused to look at him and Horatio gently lifted her chin. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his. There was a large, purple bruise beside her left eye. It looked fresh.

"Who did this to you?" Horatio asked; his voice gentle, but firm.

"No one." Alana replied stepping out of his hold. "I..I fell." She had tried to cover it with make-up, but the bruise was too fresh to be covered properly.

Horatio looked disappointed. The excuse she had given him was a poor one and he saw in the way that she looked down the floor that she knew it too.

"Don't make excuses for him, Alana." Horatio said gently. "This is not something you should have to put up with. Who did this to you?"

"It's nothing." Alana insisted. "It won't happen again." She stepped away from him as the elevator dinged, signalling that they had reached the Crime Lab. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alana..."

"Please." Alana interrupted him. "Horatio, don't ask again."

"Alright." Horatio replied softly as the doors opened and Alana stepped out. Horatio watched her as she walked rather quickly towards the locker room. If Alana didn't want to talk about it there wasn't much Horatio could do except to be there when she wanted to talk.

"Alana. Hey!" Eric called, stopping Alana before she could go into the locker room. "We could use some help going through the papers... whoa." Eric stopped his spiel as he noticed Alana's bruise. "What happened here?" He asked gently reaching towards her.

"Nothing." Alana replied stepping away from him. "I fell. Excuse me." She slipped past Eric and entered the locker room.

The door had barely swung shut behind her before Eric turned to Horatio, who had been watching their interaction. "Do you see that?" Eric demanded walking towards Horatio.

"I did." Horatio replied. "She doesn't want to talk about it."

Eric clenched his jaw. "I'd like to get a hold of whoever did that to her."

Horatio didn't answer; he was thinking the same thing. "How is the paper work going?" He asked instead.

"Slow." Eric replied. "We still haven't found anything recent yet. This guy was a pack rat. I think he saved everything."

"Keep looking." Horatio ordered. "We need to find that motive."

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was quiet. Calleigh was in the gun lab all day working with the nightshift tech on a large shootout that had happened during the night while Alana, Eric and Speed worked the paper trail. Eric was right about Jennings keeping everything. They even found the very first case that he had prosecuted as an District Attorney.<p>

"This is useless." Eric said as he tossed aside the documents he had been reading.

Speed glanced at his watch. "A few more hours then you can pack it in, Delko."

Eric leaned on the table, looking over the piles of papers that they had combed through. "We've been at this almost all day and there's still no open cases here. They're all cold or closed cases."

Speed nodded at the boxes that had been brought in during the early afternoon. "The stuff from his office didn't help much either. What about that computer disc that we found at the James's house? Alana?" Speed turned to the end of the table where Alana had isolated herself.

Alana didn't even look up from the folder in front of her. "Didn't have time to get to it yet." She replied absentmindedly.

Speed exchanged a concerned look with Eric. He too had noticed the bruise on Alana's face, but Alana had brushed it off again. There was definitely something on her mind; Alana was never absentminded at work. Some of their other coworkers joked that sometimes she was even more intense then Horatio.

"That's ok." Eric replied. "I sent it down to Tech. Hopefully they'll have come up with something by now."

"What?" Alana looked up from her documents. "You sent it to Tech?"

"Yeah." Eric replied slowly. "I signed it out of the evidence locker myself and took it down there this afternoon. Is there a problem?"

"No." Alana replied quickly. "I just wanted to get a look at it first."

"We could go down there." Eric suggested. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind having another pair of hands. Come on." He encouraged seeing Alana's hesitation. "It'll be good for us. Get out of this room for a while."

"Yeah; ok." Alana agreed. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"The files were all encrypted so I am running it through the decryption database now." Tyler Jenson told Eric and Alana as he pulled out the office chair and sat down in front of the AudioVisual computer system.

Alana placed herself beside him. She was quiet, had been the entire way to the lab. Eric shot a quick glance her way and then directed his attention back to Jenson.

"Ok. How long is that going to take?" Eric asked placing one hand on the table so he could lean in and see that screen better.

"Depends." Tyler replied tapping on the keyboard. "I have about half of it finished and it's been running for a couple hours already. Give me...maybe four hours?" He estimated.

"Which decryption protocol are you using?" Alana asked suddenly.

"Default." Tyler replied clicking on the screen. A lot of what seemed like gibberish to Eric popped up on the screen next to the text. "I just let the computer run it."

"You could try running a standard decryption or even tweaking it to custom one." Alana suggested. "It might enable the program to run faster."

Tyler nodded slowly. "Of course. What didn't I think of that?" He frowned at the screen and began to type instructions into the flowing text box.

"This one." Alana pointed to the screen. "Try that filter."

Eric watched the both of them banter back and forth for a moment; it felt good to see Alana beginning to seem like her old self. "I'll leave you too it then." He said interrupting the geek speak.

Alana looked up. "Are you sure?" She asked. "You don't need me to help you go through that stack of papers?"

"Speed and I can handle it." Eric replied. He motioned to the computer. "You...work."

Alana flashed a quick smile. "Thanks." She said and then went back to work, discussing the decryption process with Tyler.

Eric listened to them for another moment and then grinned and shook his head as he walked out of the A/V lab. Alana sure had a lot of surprises up her sleeve.

* * *

><p>Time passed quickly in the AV lab, at least it did when they were working on something. Alana and Tyler had quickly make the modifications to the decryption program and had been waiting for it to finish for the last hour.

Tyler glanced at his watch as the text scrolled down the page.

Alana stopped the gentle side to side swinging that she had been doing in her chair. "That's the third time you've looked at your watch, Tyler. Got somewhere to be?" She asked.

"Sort of." Tyler replied. "Dinner meeting."

"Go." Alana told him. "I can watch the program."

"But I really want to see this through." Tyler replied looking at the computer screen. "The encryption was like nothing I've ever seen before. Whatever is on this disc someone went to great lengths to hide it."

Alana turned in her chair so she could face the computer tech. "Tyler. How many times have you left this lab to eat in the last month?"

"Three times." He replied quickly. Alana looked at him. "Ok. Twice." He admitted. "But what does that have to do with..."

"Go to your 'meeting." Alana told him firmly. "The program will still be here and I promise I won't do anything until you get back."

Tyler looked like he was considering her proposal. "Promise?" He asked finally.

Alana held up her hand. "Scout's Honour." She replied.

"Ok." Tyler got out of his chair quickly and shucked his lab coat, hanging it on the back of the door. "I'll be right back." He told her lingering by the door.

"Go!" Alana ordered, waving him out. Tyler took one last look at the computer screen before dashing off in the direction of the locker room.

Alana waited until he was out of sight before wheeling her chair over to the keyboard. She placed her hands on the keyboard and then -hesitating- took them away. She sighed in determination and placed her hands back on the keyboard.

She typed the exit command into the text-box and watched as the decryption program shut itself down. She quickly checked the hard drive and deleted the copies of the file that Tyler had made. She then ejected the disc and slipped it into a empty file on the desk, replacing it with a blank disc.

Once the blank disk was in the drive, Alana opened up the decryption program once more and quickly set it to run continuously. The program started up and encrypted text, which was gibberish, started to run along the screen once more.

She turned as the door to the A/V lab opened and admitted Tyler's counterpart from the night shift.

Alana stood. "Tyler's on his dinner." She explained seeing the tech's glance. She reached behind her with one hand and grabbed the file that held the actual disc.

The tech nodded towards the screen. "Jenson working on decrypting that disc?"

"Yeah." Alana replied. She motioned to the screen. "He asked me to not touch it until he got back. I'm going to clock out for the night. You mind telling Tyler when he gets back?"

"Not a problem." The tech replied with a smile. He pulled out the other chair at the desk opposite Tyler's. "And you don't have to worry about me touching his computer. Dude gets really paranoid about that kind of stuff."

"Don't we all?" Alana replied, returning the smile. "Thanks so much."

"Any time." The tech called as Alana walked out of the A/V lab; the file firmly tucked under her arm.


	4. Part Four

CSI Miami: Targeted

Part Four

* * *

><p>"Heading home for the night?" Horatio asked stopping in the doorway.<p>

Speedle turned from where he had been gathering the papers on the table into a bundle to put into the box. "Yeah." He replied before turning back to the table. "Today was a bust, H. We're going to need to pay a visit to Jennings's office tomorrow."

Horatio nodded in agreement before stepping further into the room, pulling the door shut behind him. Speed put the lid on the box and turned to face Horatio.

"I wanted to talk to you about Alana." Horatio said.

"You saw it too?" Speed asked. He continued as Horatio nodded. "She doesn't want to talk about it. Not that I would be her first choice by the way."

Horatio took his comment in stride; he knew that Alana and Speed's personalities clashed, but as long as it didn't interfere with their professionalism Horatio was content to let them work it out without any help from him.

"I'll try." Speed said after a moment, filling the silence. "Maybe since we don't get along she'll be more open with me then Delko."

* * *

><p>The parking lot of the Miami-Dade Police Department had a sort of busy calm to it. The night shift was always more relaxed then the day shift and the changeover reflected that. The sun was already turning orange as Alana walked up to where her car was parked. Coming in late, she had been forced to park further away.<p>

Burke was waiting for her; leaning against the driver's side of her car, looking as smug as ever. He stood up straighter as she came towards him. "You get it?" He asked.

"Yes." Alana held out the folder, making him stretch in order to reach it.

"Good. Maybe I won't have to threaten anyone today." Burke replied with a thin smile as he took the folder and opened it, pulling out the disc."The original?" He asked looking back up at her.

"What do you think?" Alana shot back.

"Just checking." Burke replied. He slipped the disc into his jacket's inner pocket. "Thanks, Alana. I'll call you."

"Don't bother." Alana told him. "I won't pick up. We're done."

"We'll see." Burke replied before walking off into the parking lot. Alana watched him go, controlling her urge to hurl something after him. Or pull her gun and shoot the SOB.

A couple of off-duty cops walked by and Alana ducked her head so that their alert eyes wouldn't pick up her rage. Something caught her eye and she bent down; her tire was flat.

"Crap." Alana said aloud, raising to her feet. This was the last thing she needed today. It was probably courtesy of a the local punks that had taken to vandalizing police property. Angry, she kicked her tire and then ran a hand through her hair.

"What did the car ever do to you?" A voice asked from behind her.

Alana recognized the voice as Speed's and turned around, hand dropping to her side. "Nothing." She replied, her tone barely civil. "It's what someone did to it." She gestured at the flat tire.

Speed walked closer and took a look.

"It's just the straw that broke the camel's back." Alana explained. "I didn't need this today."

"It's understandable." Speed replied straightening up. "I mean first he hits you and then slashes your tires..."

"He?" Alana laughed shortly. "No; it was some punks who like causing destruction." She looked closer at Speed. "You really think a boyfriend did this? Trust me; I could handle it if it was just a boyfriend."

"So who did that to your face?" Speed asked mildly. "The door?"

Alana didn't say anything.

"We're all concerned about you, Alana." Speed said after a moment. "You come in late with your face all messed up and some lame excuse to cover it. What's going on?"

Alana hesitated. "It just some guy that refuses to leave me alone." She replied finally.

"Have you gotten a restraining order?" Speed asked. "Gone through the proper channels?"

"What do you think?" Alana shot back angrily and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." She sighed and rubbed at her forehead. "I better call a cab."

Speed motioned. "Get your stuff. I'll drive you."

* * *

><p>Speedle turned the key and pulled out of the ignition as Alana climbed off the back of his motorcycle. She pulled off her helmet and then looked up at the motel in front of her.<p>

"A lot more low key then I'm used too." She joked turning to him and grabbing her bag from the back of the bike.

"Well, I'm not taking you to a Ritz." Speed replied. He threaded his arm through the faceplate of his helmet, keys jingling in his hand. "Come on. I'll check you in."

He placed his other hand on the small of Alana's back, gently guiding her towards the lobby doors as he watched the parking lot for any sign of a tail.

Speed was still watching the parking lot as Alana stuck her key into the doorknob of her room.

"You're making me nervous." She told him softly before pushing the door open. The room was decorated in the general motel decor with pale coloured paint and fabric. The room smelled fresh; which Speed found to be unusual, but then again it was one of the more higher end motels in Miami.

Speed closed the door behind them as Alana threw her bag onto the bed. She started towards the window to close the blinds, but Speed was already there.

Alana gave a quick smile. She gestured to the window. "Great minds think alike."

"I guess." Speed replied.

"Thanks for..uh.. giving me a ride and settling me in." Alana said hesitantly, pushing her hands into her jean's pockets. "It means a lot."

"We're colleagues." Speed replied shrugging it off. "You would've done the same for me."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment until Speed motioned with one hand. "Call me if you get into trouble." He said before walking towards the door.

Alana followed him and grabbed onto the door as Speed opened it. "Thanks." She said.

Speed hesitated outside the doorway. "You sure you're ok?"

"Yeah." Alana replied. "This isn't the first time I've had to do this."

Speed frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked stepping closer to Alana so no one else would overhear the conversation.

Alana hesitated for a moment, biting her lower lip. "Nothing." She said finally. "It's... nothing. You should go." She started to close the door.

Speed stopped her, one hand firmly planted on the door. "Talk to me." He ordered.

"I said forget it." Alana replied stubbornly. "Let go of the door, Speedle."

"Not a chance" Speed replied. Two could play at this game.

"Then you're going to be standing there an awfully long time." Alana told him angrily.

Speed resisted the temptation to growl. She was making this so hard; she had to be so stubborn. "Then I won't stand here." He said barely keeping the anger out of his tone. He pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

Alana let go of the door at the same time as he shoved and the doorknob banged against the wall, leaving a little indentation in the drywall. She stepped back as he walked further into the room, closing the door behind him. Her hand went to the holster on her belt.

Speed heard the snap on her holster come loose and then froze as she pulled her gun. "Alana." He said warningly, careful to keep his hands in view. "Put the gun down."

Alana's hands shook and her breathing had slowed; she was in fight or flight mode now. There was a weird sort of hum in her ears and everything in the room seemed to have faded away until the only thing that she saw was the man in front of her; the man that seemed to have morphed into Burke. Burke when he had...

"Alana." Speed said again and Alana seemed to snap out of where ever her mind had gone. She glanced down at the gun in her hands and realized what she had almost done. She lowered the gun until the barrel pointed at the floor.

"What are you afraid of?" Speed asked.

"Nothing." Alana replied a tiny tremor in her voice as her hand gripped the butt of her gun tight.

"Then give me the gun." Speed said. He inched closer and held out his hand. "Come on; hand me the gun."

"I'm sorry." Alana apologized. "I don't know what happened. I just freaked out."

"What were you remembering?" Speed asked taking another step towards her.

"My partner." Alana replied. Her voice broke. "They killed him."

"Who?" Speed asked. He was almost within touching distance. "Who killed your partner, Alana?"

Alana looked up at him, a tear falling down her cheek. "I... don't know." She replied. She started and looked down as something touched her hand; Speed had taken hold of the gun.

"Let me have the gun, Alana." He said softly. "Let go."

Alana let go of the gun and Speed took it from her hand. He dropped it to the floor and grabbed Alana as he knees buckled. "Whoa. I got you." He said softly guiding her to the bed.

Alana wiped the tear from her cheek as he sat down beside her. She seemed to compose herself and breathed deeply.

"What's going on?" Speed asked looking down at her.

"Just go." Alana told him shakily. "You've done enough."

"You're in no condition to be left alone." Speed told her. "You shouldn't have been at work today either."

Alana laughed with any humour. "Well, it's a little late for that." She said dryly.

Speed glanced her over. The bruise on her eye was fading. It was still visible, but fading. The ride on the motorcycle had messed up her dark hair and the tears had stained her cheeks. She was also pale. Someone had done something that obviously had her rattled.

"You need to talk to someone." Speed said. "Whoever did this," He gently touched the bruise around her eye. Alana flinched away. "Should be arrested." He finished.

"Only in a perfect world." Alana muttered. It was an old cops saying; only in a prefect world would every criminal be behind bars where they belonged. "You should go." She told him after a moment. "It's getting late and Horatio wants us at the office early tomorrow."

Speed grabbed for her arm as she stood up. "Alana..."

She slide out of his grasp. "No. I'll be fine. Go."

Speed stood. "Not until you tell me who has you so spooked that you can barely see straight."

Alana spun to face him. "It's nothing!" She told him. "I said I can handle it."

"Obviously not." Speed replied evenly. "After all you did point a gun at me." He pointed out dryly.

"Only because you insisted on putting your nose in my business." Alana shot back. "Where do you get off on insisting you can fix everyone's problems? Somethings aren't that easy!"

'What do you mean by that?" Speed challenged her. "Why won't you talk to me?"

"Just get out!" Alana was yelling by now. "No one asked you to come here." She threw the words at him.

Speed stood firm. "Not until you tell me who is targeting you." He told her.

"It's _none_ of your business." Alana replied angrily.

"Stop trying to push me away, Alana." Speed said angrily. "Not everyone is going to end up like Steven."

Alana stiffened. "What did you say?" Her tone had gone ice cold.

Speed had opened the box and there was no going back now. "I said not everyone is going to die like Steven did."

"What do you know about _my partner_?" Alana asked stressing the words. She was just barely holding back her anger.

"I know he was shot." Speed replied. "I also know that you were there."

"You do not want to go here with me, Speedle." Alana warned him. She pointed towards the door. "I'll give one chance to walk through the door and I'll forget you _ever _mentioned my partner."

"They're coming after you aren't they?" Speed asked ignoring her threat. "The same people who killed your partner?"

Alana didn't reply and looked towards the wall, setting her jaw.

Speed crossed the short distance between them in a two quick steps and grabbed her by the arms, making her look at him. "I can't help you unless you _talk to me!" _

"Why? Why should I tell you anything?" Alana asked angrily. "We're not friends. We don't even _like _each other. Hell, half the time we're engaged in a stupid prank war! So you tell me why I should tell _you_ anything?"

They stood there for a moment; inches apart and both taking in deep breaths of oxygen due to the emotion and level at which they were raising their voices.

"Because we watch each other's backs." Speed replied finally.

"We watch each other's backs." Alana repeated sarcastically. "So you're going to spout off some touchy-feely line that Horatio uses and hope that's enough to convince me?" She yanked her arms out of his grasp. "Thanks. I feel better already."

"What the hell is with you, Alana?" Speed asked angrily. "Ever since day one you've been jumping at shadows and pushing everyone and everything away. None of us can even get close to you without those barriers coming up. Frankly, I'm getting sick of this song and dance. Is the real Alana ever going to come out? Or is she just a screw-up too?"

The tension in the room was so thick it could've been cut with a knife.

"I'm sorry." Speed apologized after a couple moments of silence. "I didn't mean too..."

"Yes. You did." Alana interrupted quietly. She motioned to the door. "Nothing's stopping you."

Speed decided that he better make his exit now before he said anything else that he regretted. One hand on the doorknob, he turned back to Alana. "You asked me why you should tell me anything. I should've said because I care about you." He turned back and opened the door, preparing to walk out in the Miami night.

"Wait." Alana said and Speed turned back, letting go of the door.

Alana stood in the doorway, the orange glow from the sun silhouetting her slim frame. "You should've said that first." She told him.

Speed nodded. "I know." He stepped closer to her to make room behind him for a hotel guest on the way to his room.

He looked into her dark brown eyes – the same color as his – and impulsively leaned forward, catching her lips in his own. It was only meant to be quick kiss, but Alana managed to surprise him by stepping forward and grabbing the collar of his leather jacket before he could pull back. She kissed him again and Speed quickly read the invitation that was written there.

Placing his hands on her hips to guide her, Speed backed Alana into the hotel room and shoved the door closed with his foot.

* * *

><p>The night shift at the Miami-Dade Crime Lab was always relaxed and informal. Tyler Jensen loved working the overtime when it was spent during the nightshift.<p>

After retrieving his lab coat from behind the door, Tyler sat down behind his desk and clicked on the decryption software that was still running in the background.

The nightshift tech was no where in sight, but that wasn't usual. Breaks seemed to be as natural to that guy as breathing.

The program came up rather quickly and told Tyler that it was still running the permutations. Tyler frowned at the screen. "Whoever programed you did one hell of a job." He muttered softly to the CD in the drive.

Realizing that the program was going to take a little more time- at least two hours more- Tyler got up to hunt down the book he kept in the lab for just such occasions. He was thoroughly engaged in hunting through the stacks of CD cases when the lights above him flickered. The hard-drive at his desk made a strange noise, like something had been caught in it's gears and the fan kicked up a notch.

Tyler rushed back to his station and started checking things out. "Oh. This is _not _good." He said just before the hard-drive made a popping sound and then died. This time the lights did go out and all noise ceased in the A/V lab.


	5. Part Five

CSI Miami: Targeted

Part Five

* * *

><p>Horatio stood in the middle of the AV lab and surveyed the damage. The only thing that had been damaged beyond repair was Tyler's work station. The computer was now spread out on a large fold out table that had been brought up from storage to serve as a temporary layout table.

At the moment, Tyler was trying to get a melted disc out of the CD drive. He had already removed the drive from the tower and it didn't look good. What was worse was the disc was the only piece of evidence that could help Horatio and his team discover why someone had been crazy enough to kill an ADA and his assistant.

Horatio looked up as he saw someone in the doorway. "Eric." He motioned his colleague into the room.

Eric stepped into the room. "What happened here?" He asked glancing over the fold out table that was covered in computer parts.

"We had some sort of weird power surge during the night and it melted the disc." Tyler replied, head still bent over the melted computer disc.

Horatio nodded in agreement as Eric looked at him.

"And that would be the disc from the James's home?" Eric asked.

Horatio nodded again. In the background, Tyler gave a satisfied grunt as the CD slipped from the drive.

Eric let out a angry sigh and crossed his arms over his dark blue dress shirt. "Great. There goes any chance of seeing what Jennings's was working on."

"Uh, guys." Tyler interrupted, pulling his cotton swab away from the disc's surface. Horatio and Eric both turned to face him. "We have a problem here."

"What kind of problem?" Horatio asked.

"This isn't the disc from the James home." Tyler replied.

"What?" Eric asked in surprise.

"It's a different brand." Tyler said. He frowned down at the CD. "Come to think of it; it's the same brand we use."

"What are you saying, Tyler?" Horatio asked.

Tyler looked up at Horatio. "I'm saying that someone switched CD's on us. The evidence is missing." There was moment of silence as what he had said sank in.

"What should I do?" Tyler asked quietly.

"You report it." Horatio said firmly. He turned to Eric. "Are Speed and Alana in yet?"

Eric shook his head. "Not yet, H."

"Call them." Horatio ordered. "We're all going to be at the centre of a IA investigation. We're all better off if we can figure out what happened."

* * *

><p>The ringing of a phone yanked Speed out of sleep. He was lying face down on the pillow, sprawled across the bed. He reached up, hunting for the phone with his hand, refusing to look at the tiny machine that was causing him grief.<p>

He finally found the cell phone and only then did he raise his head, placing the phone to his ear without bothering to check the caller id.

"Hello?" He answered, his voice deep and grumpy with sleep. Beside him, Alana stirred and Speed glanced over as she slipped from the bed, heading towards the washroom.

It was Eric. Speed listened as he explained the situation that they had suddenly found themselves in, his mind growing more alert with every word. With a quick promise that he would be there in thirty minutes, Speed hung up; shoving the phone back onto the nightstand.

He rolled onto his back, staring up at the standard white ceiling. There were a couple cracks starting near the door. He sat up as Alana came out of the washroom. She grabbed her t-shirt and pulled it on.

She yawned as she bent down to retrieve her clothes on the floor. "Who was that?" She asked.

"Delko." Speed replied. As if in answer, Alana's phone rang and dropping the clothes on the bed, she reached for it; kneeling on the bed to grab the phone from the opposite nightstand.

"Cooper." She answered. The conversation went very much like Speed's and she hung up within a minute, telling Eric that she'd be in soon. Alana replaced the phone on the nightstand.

Speed broke the awkward silence that ensued. "You want to talk about...us?" He asked.

Alana hesitated for a moment. "No. Not really." She replied finally. She gestured with the clothes in her hand. "We have to be at the office and I need to take a shower..." She trailed off awkwardly.

"Me too." Speed replied and there was another moment of silence. "Want some company?" He propositioned.

Alana gave an amused smile. "I think we both know where that'll lead." She replied. She suddenly looked unsure of herself. "I..."

Speed stopped her. "You don't need to say anything." He told her. "We can talk about it later. Somewhere public this time." He added on second thought.

Alana smiled at his insinuation. "You can show yourself out?"

"Yeah." Speed replied as he watched Alana go into the washroom, shutting the door behind her. He let out a sigh as he heard the shower start up.

* * *

><p>Back at the lab, Horatio was busy tracking down the last member of his team who had also arrived early that morning. "Calleigh?" He called into what seemed to be an empty lab.<p>

"Over here." Calleigh replied from where she had been unintentionally hiding behind the row of desks. She stood so Horatio could see her. She brandished the desk rag in her hand. "Just doing some dusting." Calleigh had artfully layered a black vest over a white shirt and her dark pants flattered her slim figure.

"We have people to do that." Horatio replied as he walked further into the lab.

"I know." Calleigh said. "I was just waiting for my search to finish and couldn't stand the dust anymore. I heard about the A/V Lab."

"News sure travels fast around here." Horatio commented.

Calleigh smiled. "The grapevine is very reliable." She agreed. "You know when IA is going to be here?"

"No." Horatio admitted musing on how Calleigh always seemed to be one step ahead of him. She definitely had the gift of reading people. "I think it would be a good idea to do a little investigating ourselves before the IAB gets involved."

"Sounds good." Calleigh agreed. The computer behind her beeped and flashed a green color. Calleigh turned her expression lit up. "I got a match." She said reaching for the mouse.

"On what?" Horatio asked curiously.

"I decided to run our bullets from the Jennings case through IBIS but the computer wasn't free until this morning." Calleigh replied, referring the large drug-gang related shootout that had taken place yesterday morning. "Though I didn't expect to get a match so quickly..." She trailed off as the data finally popped up on screen. "That can't be possible." She turned to look at Horatio.

Horatio peered closer at the screen, quickly scanning the results. "Run it again." He ordered.

Calleigh turned back the keyboard and quickly started the search again. "It's already logged into the system." She explained.

Horatio nodded. "I know." He replied. "Just run it again."

They both looked up as footsteps rapidly approached the lab and IA detective Rick Stetler appeared in the doorway. Behind him were four other IAB detectives that quickly made their way into the room.

"Step away from the computer." Stetler ordered Calleigh. She looked at Horatio and then stepped away as the Lt nodded.

One of the detectives quickly took over the keyboard, deleting the request to re-run the search. The last search results automatically reappeared on the screen. The printer in the corner hummed, automatically printing the results.

"Sergeant Stetler." Horatio said greeting the sergeant coolly.

"Lt. Caine." Stetler replied copying his tone.

"What brings you here?" Horatio asked mildly as if they had just stopped in the hallway for a chat.

"The missing evidence. IAB wants to investigate." Stetler replied. "That means interviewing everyone in the chain of custody. Will you both come with me please?" With a nod to the other officers, Stetler proceeded them out of the door.

* * *

><p>Horatio and Calleigh were escorted into the conference room. Eric, Speed, and Alana were already inside and stood when they entered. By the look of things they had been escorted straight to the conference room; both of them still were wearing their holsters and Speed still had his helmet.<p>

Horatio's keen eyes picked up the fact that Alana and Speed seemed to be matching this morning; both with dark leather jackets and jeans. The only thing that was different was their shirts; Alana's was red and Speed's was blue.

Speed was the first to speak. "H, what's going on here?" He asked tight lipped. He shot a glare towards Stetler who had taken up residence in the corner of the room, discussing something with one of his counterparts. "Why are we being treated like criminals?"

Alana and Eric looked equally annoyed at how they were being treated. Horatio motioned for them to calm down. "Let me take care of this." He told them with a questioning glance.

Speed nodded and retook his seat, crossing his arms. Eric and Alana followed suit. Calleigh moved to join them shooting Horatio a look that clearly said, _be careful._

Horatio turned to face Stetler. "Can I have a word?" He asked and then stalked out of the room without waiting for a reply. Stetler gave the room one last look and then followed Horatio into the hall.

"Horatio, your team is the one investigating the case." Stetler was already on the defensive even before they had made it fully out of the room. "That means they were closest to the evidence the entire time. Delko even signed out of the disk so technically the blame falls on his shoulders."

"Eric wasn't the only person in that chain of custody, Rick." Horatio replied. "I suggest you start there before levelling baseless accusations against my CSI's."

"Baseless?" Stetler asked. "I happen to know that Jennings was investigating corrupt cops in this department which means that all of you have motive especially Alana Cooper."

"Corrupt cops?" Horatio asked with a frown, letting the comment about Alana go for the moment. "How do you know that?"

"I got a copy of the district attorney's case." Stetler replied. "Apparently I was doing your job for you. Now if you excuse me, I have to speak with the officer's involved."

Horatio watched as Stetler turned and walked back into the conference room. He followed after a moment. Stetler had a job to do; he knew that. He also knew that they were the logical choice when it came to his investigation. They were closest to the evidence. But damned if he was going to stand by and let Rick Stetler tear his team a new one.

The rest of his team stood up Horatio and Stetler came back into the conference room. They still didn't look happy at what was happening.

"Alright. Here's what's going to happen." Stetler started out. He turned as one of the IA officer's came back into the room. "Ah. Right on time."

The officer placed Calleigh's and Eric's guns on the table. Obviously, the items had been collected from their lockers.

Calleigh and Eric's protests were almost simultaneous. "You have no right..." Eric started angrily and at the same time Calleigh was saying. "Hang on just a moment..."

"Lockers are property of the Miami-Dade Police Department and I have every right to search them as part of an ongoing IA investigation." Stetler replied interrupting their protests. He motioned. "Speedle. Cooper."

Speed and Alana stood and walked over to the table. They pulled their weapons off their belts and checked the safeties before placing them on the table.

Stetler turned to Horatio. He motioned to the table. "You too, Horatio."

Horatio walked forward and pulled his Beretta. He also checked to make sure the safety was on before placing the weapon on the table along with his officer's. He stepped back and quickly looked over the table.

Calleigh's Lady Smith was the most distinctive; the stainless steel casing stood out among the other black chrome. Speedle's Jericho also was distinctive in it's unique shape and Eric's Heckler and Koch suited his style; keeping it plain and simple. The last gun on the table made Horatio's jaw clench. He knew where Stetler was going with this.

Stetler ignored all the other guns on the table and picked up Alana's stainless-steel SIG Sauer P226. Horatio saw by the looks on his colleagues face's that they had made the connection for themselves. Greg Jennings and Erika James had been killed with a SIG Sauer P226.

"We'll be taking this to the lab for testing." Stetler clarified just in case anyone had missed the insinuation.

"Wait a minute!" Alana protested. "Half the department carries that type of gun! You can't possibly think that I had anything to do with the murders."

"I'm not saying anything." Stetler replied, splitting hairs. He handed off the gun to another IA officer, who slipped it onto a plastic evidence bag. "As you CSI's say, 'follow the evidence.'"

"What evidence?" Eric asked angrily. "You don't have evidence. Anything you have is circumstantial at best."

"Circumstantial?" Stetler repeated. "I have a ballistics match from a search that was initiated by CSI Duquesne. The bullets that killed Greg Jennings and Erika James are also a match to the bullets pulled out of a dead police officer; Steve Gallagher. I'm sure some of you will recognize this name. CSI Cooper?"

Everyone turned to look at Alana. She had gone as white as a ghost and her hands gripped the table so hard that her knuckles had turned white. She looked like she was going to faint. "What are you saying?" She asked Stetler in strangled tone. "That I killed my partner?"

"Rick." Horatio warned.

"You tell me." Stetler replied. The tension in the room was thick and heavy. For many in the room this was the first time they were hearing about Alana's partner. Stetler pointed towards her gun. "I wonder what the results would be if I tested this gun."

Alana took a shaky breath. "You are a bastard." She replied flatly. "You have no right to come in here and accuse me of the murder of my own partner!" By the time she finished she was yelling. "No right!"

Speed and Eric moved at the same, both going towards Alana. As Speed was the closest, he got to Alana first and briefly placed a hand on the small of her back to let her know that he was there. He turned to look at Stetler, but Horatio was already putting the sergeant back in his place.

"That is going too far, Rick." Horatio said evenly. "There is no evidence whatsoever that Alana's gun is the same one used in the recent murders or even the murder of her partner."

"IA never cleared her of the earlier shooting." Stetler replied. The statement shocked everyone in the room. He turned to one of the IA detectives. "Brady, if you'll escort everyone from the room I'd like to ask CSI's Delko and Cooper some questions."

The detective nodded and motioned. "Lt?"

Horatio ignored him and directed his gaze towards Stetler. "I'd like a moment alone with my officers." It wasn't a request.

Looking not too pleased at being backed into a corner, Stetler nodded and with a look cleared the room of all the IA detectives. "Two minutes." He warned Horatio before leaving the room as well.

Horatio looked towards Alana, who had walked a few feet away from the rest of the group. Her back was turned to him and he saw her shoulders straighten as she composed herself before turning around.

"Sorry, H." She apologized.

"Alana." Horatio waited until he was sure he had her attention. "Have you had any involvement with the Jennings case? Anything at all?"

"No." Alana replied firmly. She still looked angry at the insinuation. "And all that stuff that he said about my partner was also a load of bull."

"He was out of line." Horatio agreed. "Eric?" He turned to the other CSI.

"I did sign the disc out of the evidence locker." Eric admitted. "I took it to Jenson in the A/V lab -he signed for it- and that's the last I saw of it. Look, H. We already know all this. He can't pin anything on me. If anything Stetler should be blaming the electricity."

"But he's not. He's blaming you." Calleigh pointed out the obvious. She turned to Horatio. "Horatio, surely we're not going to let him investigate this without any proof?"

"We have too." Horatio replied not sounding too pleased about it. He turned to his two CSIs. "Eric, Alana, you're going to have to answer Stetler's questions; cooperate fully with IA. If you have nothing to hide this will all go away."

"Hopefully." Speed grunted; his tone clearly stating what he thought of IA.

They all looked up as the door opened again and Stetler walked back into the room. "Time's up." He told them. He nodded to Alana. "CSI Cooper, if you'll just step outside. I'd like to speak to CSI Delko first."

"Fine." Alana replied. She nodded to Eric. "Good luck. You're going to need it." She told him with a quick look Stetler's way.

Stetler ignored the glare. "Detective Brady will wait with you." He motioned Brady over.

Alana shot Brady a sarcastic smile and then strode to the door, shoving it open. The detective followed, just barely catching the door as it swung shut.

Horatio looked up at Stetler as Calleigh and Speed filed out behind him. "Neither of them have anything to do with this, Rick."

"Then they have nothing to worry about." Stetler replied.

"Eric?" Horatio asked turning to his CSI.

"I'll be fine, H." Eric's lips were thin with anger and he looked ready for a fight.

Horatio glanced one more time at Stetler and then turned, walking out the door without a backwards glance.

Alana was leaning against the wall across from the door, the IA detective beside her. She caught Horatio's eye and inclined her head slightly. Horatio turned away and turned towards Calleigh and Speed who were waiting for him. Alana would keep an eye on Eric for him.

"What do we do now?" Speed asked glancing past Horatio's shoulder towards Alana.

"We do our jobs." Horatio replied. "We still have to solve a murder."

"Lt. Caine!"

Horatio turned to see Tyler Jensen running up them. It was a strange sight as Tyler rarely left his lab. "I have something for you." The A/V tech said in a quieter tone as he reached them.


	6. Part Six

CSI Miami: Targeted

Part Six

* * *

><p>The glass door closed behind Horatio, leaving Eric and Stetler alone in the room. Well, almost alone. One of the IA detectives had stayed behind and taken up residence in one of the corners of the room.<p>

Stetler threw his folder on the table between them and motioned for Eric to sit. Eric complied.

"Let's walk through your day yesterday." Stetler said starting to pace. "What happened when you got in?"

"The usual." Eric replied. "Clocked in, put away my weapon, greeted the nightshift coming out of the fingerprint lab..."

Stetler motioned for him to stop. "When did you take the disc down to the lab?" He asked.

"After I signed out the paper evidence we had collected from Jennings's home." Eric replied. "I handed to evidence to Tyler Jensen and he signed for it."

"And you didn't notice anything strange about the disc then?" Stetler asked. "Nothing seemed different?"

"If you trying to imply..."

"I'm not trying to imply anything." Stetler replied, interrupting him. "We already know that the disc was switched sometime during the nightshift. What was the first thing you worked on?" He asked.

"Papers from Greg Jennings office." Eric replied. "Horatio had Speedle, Cooper and I going through them first thing in the morning. It took us most of the day."

"Most of the day?" Stetler asked.

"Yeah; most of the day." Eric repeated.

Sensing that he wasn't going to Eric to talk easily, Stetler decided to push. "When did you and Cooper decide to go down to the lab?"

"Late afternoon." Eric replied. "The disc was still decrypting..."

* * *

><p>The smell of smoked electronics in the AV lab was sightly less noticeable then this morning, but it still made Speed's nose wrinkle as Horatio, Calleigh, and he gathered around the computer that Tyler had 'stolen' from an unused office.

Tyler tapped on the keyboard as he spoke. "I managed to salvage some of the CPU and was able to pull the last couple logs off it. Take a look at this." Tyler placed something up on the screen and then leaned back in his chair.

Horatio glazed at the screen. "What exactly am I looking at?" He asked after a moment.

"A hack." Tyler replied. He leaned forward again. "Just before the computer melted down someone hacked into our system and downloaded the decrypted contents of the disc."

Speed frowned. "Wait a minute. You said that the disc had been switched out. So when they downloaded the contents of the disc wouldn't they have gotten gibberish?"

Tyler shook his head. "A couple years ago we installed a backup system so that in case there was a power outage the evidence would still be backup on our systems. Most of the disc was already decrypted before it was switched out. Our hacker would have been able to download practically all the contents."

"So you're saying that we have the original contents of the disc?" Calleigh asked.

"Unfortunately no." Tyler replied. "I managed to recover the logs and like I said the disc was almost fully decrypted before someone swapped it out; but our hacker deleted all the hard copies before causing a power outage that fired my computer. This guy is good whoever he is. He even got into our surveillance systems; wiped the video feed from this room. Take a look."

Tyler pulled up the video file and clicked on it. The screen showed him and Alana talking at the desk. A few seconds later, Tyler got up from his chair and walked over to the door. The video suddenly become fuzzy and then winked out.

"That's it?" Speed asked leaning forward.

"Sorry." Tyler shrugged in apology.

Speed ran a hand over his jaw. "That doesn't look too good for Alana. If Stetler got a hold of this..." His quick eyes caught Tyler glancing down the keyboard. "He already has it, doesn't he?" Speed asked sharply.

"He had me go over everything with him." Tyler admitted. "But Alana wasn't in the lab long. She left a few minutes after I did; the sign out sheet confirms it. Besides I passed Justin on my way out..."

"Justin was working last night?" Calleigh asked.

Tyler nodded.

Horatio looked at Calleigh questioning.

"Justin has a tendency to take a lot of breaks." Calleigh explained. "There could have been a good twenty minutes that no one was in the lab."

"So anyone could have come in and switched out the discs after Tyler and Alana left." Horatio finished. He looked up at his team. "We need to go back to the Jennings case. Everything that happened is directly tied into this case. We need to find Greg Jennings's killer, and then maybe we'll get some answers."

* * *

><p>Alana couldn't help but watch the conversation taking place behind the closed glass walls of the conference room. The conversation took about half an hour before Eric came storming out of the room barely managing not to slam the door behind him.<p>

Alana stood from the chair she had taken and quickly caught up to Eric. "How'd it go?" She asked.

"Usual stuff." Eric replied. He glanced behind Alana towards the conference room; an IA officer had just gone inside with a file folder which he was now sharing with Stetler. He turned back to Alana. "He's going to ask you about the disc."

"What disc?" Alana asked with a frown. "The one that Jensen has?"

"Had." Eric corrected. "There was a power failure late last night and it fried the disc. But apparently it wasn't the actual evidence because someone switched the disc out for a blank one."

"Whoa." Alana muttered. "I guess someone really didn't want us to read what was on that disc."

Eric hesitated for a moment. "Alana, about your partner..."

"Stetler's out of line." Alana replied cutting him off. "I don't want to talk about, Eric."

He nodded in understanding and then motioned with his chin. "Looks like they're ready for you. Good luck."

"Thanks." Alana muttered sarcastically. She turned to face IA detective Brady, who motioned for her to enter the conference room. She was directed to sit on the opposite side of the table; the side reserved for criminals, perps, and persons of interest.

Stetler opened the folder on the table in front of him before motioning Alana to sit. After a moment of hesitation, she complied. She had always wondered what it would be like to sit on the opposite side of the table. Now that she was here she didn't like it one bit.

"Let's start with the disc." Stetler said as he lowered himself into the chair. "You worked on it with Jensen, correct?" He looked up as Alana didn't answer. "Cooper?" He asked.

"Correct." Alana replied mentally giving herself a shake; she needed to pay attention.

"Walk me through what you did again." Stetler asked leaning back in his chair.

"We were combing through ADA Jennings's files, trying to find anything that might give us a idea of who might have wanted to murder him when CSI Delko suggested we go and check how Jensen was coming along with decrypting the disc that was found at the James's home."

"Why would he suggest that?" Stetler asked.

Alana eyed him. "It's quite common for CSIs to check on the processing of evidence especially if you were the one who signed it out."

Stetler returned her gaze. "Did you return with CSI Delko to finish looking through the papers?"

"No, I did not." Alana replied. "Though you already know that."

"What did you do while inside the A/V lab?" Stetler asked ignoring her comment.

"Jensen and I tweaked the decryption key in order to get the results faster."

"Then you have some expertise with computers." Stetler commented looking down at the folder in front of him. "There's nothing about that in your file."

"I'm sorry; is there a question somewhere in there?" Alana asked.

Stetler picked up a remote control and pointing it at the TV, pressed the play button. The screen showed a surveillance tape of the A/V Lab. It showed Tyler leaving the room and Alana sitting at the computer. Stetler pressed the pause button to clearly show Alana's face.

"This is you in the A/V Lab and as you can clearly see, Jensen is leaving you alone in the room."

"Your point?" Alana asked.

Stetler played the tape again and this time the tape became fuzzy and then winked out. He placed the remote back on the table. "Several seconds later, someone hacked into our system and disabled both the surveillance system and all the computers in the A/V Lab. We have evidence that clearly shows that this hacker had someone on the inside; someone who switched the computer discs. You were the only one the room."

Alana didn't reply.

Stetler folded his hands and placed them on top of the file. "Did you sabotage the computer system and compromise evidence?" He asked intently gazing at Alana.

"No. I didn't." Alana replied staring back at him.

The tension in the room lessened slightly as Stetler leaned back in his chair and reopened the folder in front of him. He pulled out a couple pieces of paper and set them in front of Alana. "This is a ballistics report. I ran it on your gun. I don't think you'll need me to tell you the results."

Alana picked up the papers and scanned the first page, quickly skim reading until she got down to the bottom of the page. Her chest constricted as she read the word enclosed in the box; positive. She flipped to the second page and the third with the same results; positive.

She set the papers down on the table. "This has got to be some sort of trick." She managed to reply, shoving the papers back towards Stetler. "I didn't kill anyone."

Stetler pushed the papers back towards her. "The evidence says otherwise. Your gun is a match to three murders, Alana." He pointed to each of the positive results. "Greg Jennings, Erika James, Steven Gallagher. Three murders, one gun."

"No." Alana shook her head. "I didn't kill any of those people and especially not my partner. You've read my report you know what happened that night."

"I know what you wrote." Stetler replied calmly. He tapped the papers. "You lied. You and Steven were the corrupt cops and now you're covering your ass."

"No!" Alana shot up from her chair and walked a few feet away from Stetler before turning back. "This is a pack of lies!" She swept the papers off the table violently. "All of it!"

Stetler sat calmly throughout her outburst. "Alana Cooper, I am placing you under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Alana interrupted before he could continue. "I want to see Horatio."


	7. Part Seven

CSI Miami: Targeted

Part Seven

Horatio watched Alana through the glass. His CSI sat at the table with one hand rubbing her forehead like she had a headache; she probably did the way that Rick had been going at her.

He turned as Stetler came up beside him. "I've already cautioned her." He said to Horatio turning away from the window.

"She didn't have anything to do with this, Rick." Horatio replied.

"I'm going to need something more then your blind faith in your team to make me drop this case." Stetler answered. "We have video, ballistics,and she's hiding something."

"Give me a day." Horatio said. He stopped Stetler's next words with a look. "One day, Rick, and I'll get you the proof you need to drop this case."

"Fine." Stetler replied after a moment. "You have twelve hours."

Horatio nodded and then turned back to the window, signalling that the conversation was over. He heard Stetler walk away, then he pulled open the door and stepped into the conference room.

Alana looked up and then stood once she realized who it was. "Horatio..."

"How are you holding up?" Horatio asked coming around to her side of the table.

Alana laughed quietly. "Fine. Except for the fact that I've been accused of three murders and tampering with evidence. Otherwise I'm just fine."

"He makes a good case, Alana." Horatio replied. "I can't help you if you don't tell me the truth. I need you to be honest with me. What exactly happened?"

"When?" Alana asked crossing her arms. "In the A/V Lab, or the night my partner was murdered? You know that answer the last one."

"Tell it to me again." Horatio replied.

Alana glanced away for a moment, composing herself and then looked back at Horatio. "Steven and I were working a drug case and our informant mentioned something about certain cops being involved. We decided to check it out and quietly made some inquires. Obviously, we asked in the wrong places because some guys in ski masks paid a visit to my apartment."

Alana's voice was distant as she recalled the events of that night. "One of them pulled a gun on me. I fought with him. The gun went off. Steven... Steven got hit and the guys took off." Alana took a deep breath as she remembered what had happened next, but she didn't share it with Horatio.

"This is it, isn't it?" She asked.

Horatio didn't reply.

"Isn't it?" Alana persisted.

"It... it doesn't look good." Horatio admitted. "But, I don't want you to dwell on that right now. Right now, I need you to tell me anything you remembered about that night. What happened in the A/V lab? Did you see anything unusual?"

Alana shook her head. "Nothing. Everything was normal."

Something in her tone didn't sound right. Horatio looked intently at his officer. "Is there anything I should know about?" He asked. "Your eye?"

Alana touched the fading bruise around her eye. "I told you. I fell." She replied dropping her hand.

"You're lying to me, Alana." Horatio told her. "What's really going on?"

Alana hesitated and looked like she was about to say something, but was interrupted by Stetler coming back into the room.

He motioned. "We're going to keep you here for twelve hours. Then we'll move you down to booking."

Eric had set himself up in the layout lab to start going back through the Jennings and James cases. He had just finished laying out all the crime scene photos when Calleigh walked in.

"Are these the crime scene photos?" She asked gently touching the edge of the one.

"Yeah." Eric replied. "H wants me to go back through them and find anything we missed. And try to clear Alana." He added.

Calleigh picked up the photo showing Erika's body. "I can't believe that she could do something like this; whatever the evidence says."

"But if the evidence doesn't lie...then where are we?" Eric asked.

"A frame job?" Calleigh suggested replacing the photo with the rest.

Eric nodded. "That's my theory." He picked up one of the photos and eyed it. "Now I just have to prove it."

"We." Calleigh corrected, coming around to stand beside Eric. She looked at him. "I've been kicked out the gun lab for the time being so consider me free."

Eric smiled and moved over to give his colleague more room. "Let's get to work."

Speed ignored the pile of clothing he had to re-go through and instead made his way down to holding. Something wasn't adding up. Alana wasn't the kind of person to commit any crime, let alone three murders even if the evidence was stacking up against her.

Someone was trying to hurt her and a frame job seemed more then probable at this point. He couldn't get her face out of his mind; the image was stuck in the moment where she had been fully prepared to shoot him. Someone was making her afraid and he needed to know who that was.

The officer of duty let him in without hassle and closed the door behind him. Alana looked up at him, but didn't get up. She looked tired and part of him knew that he hadn't helped with that.

"How you doing?" He asked dragging the chair over to her side of the table.

"Still waiting for you to get me out of here." Alana replied. Her small smile told him that she knew it wouldn't be happening for a while.

"We're working on it." He replied.

If anyone had looked in on them, they would have been able to pick up on what their body language was saying rather quickly. Alana was sitting almost sideways in her seat, facing Speed. Both of them were comfortable with each other; something that spoke of more then just a work relationship.

"You shouldn't be here." Alana told Speed after a small pause.

"I know." Speed replied. He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. He touched his elbow to hers.

Alana smiled. "What do you know?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing good." Speed told her. "Everything that Stetler is basing his case on is watertight, Alana. It looks like you did it."

"But I didn't." Alana hissed angrily. "You should know better then anyone that I wouldn't murder innocent people; ever."

"Knowing it and proving it are two different things." Speed replied.

"I know." Alana glanced up the officer walked past the window so he could see their faces. "I just... you need to get me out of here."

"We're working on it." Speed assured her. "Horatio's got us going back through the original cases; trying to find something that might explain why your case seems to connected. We'll get you out of here. Can I get you anything?"

Alana leaned forward. "I need you to get the gun out of evidence." She said quietly. "You have to check it out; it's not my gun."

"There's no way to prove..." Speed replied.

"There's no other way Stetler could've gotten a positive match." Alana interrupted. "Unless someone switched out my gun with the one that was used in... all three murders. Speed, someone's trying to frame me."

Eric sighed as he replaced the photo had had been studying back on to the table. "Nothing." He said disgustedly. "And that was the last one too."

Calleigh didn't say anything as Eric started to gather up the photos to replace in the file. "Wait!" She said suddenly, grabbing his hand as he started to slide the photos in to the envelope. Calleigh grabbed the topmost photo and shoved it under the light.

It was the photo taken outside the bathroom where Erika James had died. There was blood spatter all over the door frame and Eric could see that there was a void within the spatter; a void that he had missed.

Calleigh pointed to the void in the splatter. "How tall do you think that door is?" She asked Eric, who was now by her side.

"Seven feet at the most." Eric replied, frowning at the photo.

"Look at where the void stops." Calleigh said pointing to the top of the door frame. "The person had to be over six feet to create that tall of a void. And Alana..."

"And Alana isn't even six feet." Eric finished for her. He grinned. "Nice catch, Calleigh." He grabbed the photo and headed towards the door. "I'm going to go tell Horatio. Alana's off the hook for one of the murders."

Horatio had taken his own advice and was in his office, the original case files spread out on his desk. Greg Jennings, Erika James, and Steven Gallagher. For some reason, Officer Gallagher's case seemed to be connected to the other investigations and Horatio intended to find out why.

Alana had a connection to all three cases; she had worked two, and had been a part of one. Horatio picked up the file that held the details of the investigation that Alana and her partner had been conducting. They had been investigating a claim made by an informant about cops engaging in criminal activity to further their salaries.

Their investigation had mostly taken place on the street as they had been wary to involve IAB; Horatio didn't blame them. They had been able to find out a great deal from the folks on the street and then Alana had been attacked. The report was detailed and written in Alana's neat script. It followed the same basic outline of event that she had given him.

But something didn't add up. Horatio flipped to the last page and found what he was looking for. The last page of the file contained a DA's warrant, telling exactly what they were investigating and planned to prosecute. Greg Jennings had been the primary signer.

Horatio dropped the file back onto his desk. Things were beginning to fall into place; they now had a motive. He looked up as Eric stepped into the officer, knocking quickly on the door frame before admitting himself. Calleigh came in close on his heels and Horatio knew that they had found something.

Eric dropped the photo onto Horatio's desk. "Quick question." He asked as Horatio picked up the picture. "How tall is Alana?"

"Five-six." Horatio replied promptly, glancing over the photo. He looked up. "Why?"

Calleigh and Eric quickly explained what they had found to Horatio.

"Do it by the book." Horatio told them. "Go to the house and measure the frame. Make it airtight."

"You got it." Eric replied.

"And good work." Horatio told them before they could leave. "You just proved that Alana didn't shot Erika James."

"Thanks, H." Eric replied with a grin. He turned to leave the office and almost crashed into Speed who had been lurking outside the open office door. "Speed." Eric greeted his colleague. "We found proof that Alana didn't kill Erika James; blood splatter." He said showing the picture to Speed.

"That's great." Speed replied returning the photo. He turned to Horatio. "Can we talk?" He asked.

"Sure." Horatio nodded.

"We'll see you later." Calleigh said as she and Eric took off down the hallway to go and check out the James house.

"What's on your mind?" Horatio asked, motioning Speed towards one of the chairs in his office. Speed didn't sit, preferring to stand instead.

"Alana says she was framed." Speed said. "She says that someone switched out her gun. I believe her."

"So do I." Horatio replied. He showed Speed the ADA's memo he had found which gave Alana and he partner permission to conduct an investigation into corrupt cops. "Why would Alana and Steven start an investigation into corrupt cops when they were ones themselves?"

Speed took the paper. "This could just be used against her." He said, looking up from the document. "As proof that she had motive to kill Jennings because he knew too much."

"Or it could be used to clear her." Horatio replied. "Alana's report shows that there's more to this corrupt cops situation then just men trying to make a few extra dollars on the side. Apparently there is an entire network of law enforcement officials taking bribes and using informant's information to grab the proceeds for themselves instead of turning them over to the correct officials."

Horatio picked up a case file from his desk. "I also have the report that Jennings had written and given to the DA for safekeeping. Jennings's indicated that he thought that the FBI might even be involved."

"Wonderful." Speed muttered. "So this is a federal case now."

"Would have been if Jennings hadn't been killed." Horatio replied. "The disk that was stolen would've given us everything; names, dates, places. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure that we didn't see what was on that disk."

"That's just great." Speed commented, replacing the paper on Horatio's desk. "So the one thing that can clear Alana's name is missing. I'm going to see if I can get ahold of her gun. Maybe there'll be something there that can help us prove that it isn't hers."

"Good idea." Horatio encouraged. "I'm going to go through Jennings's personal effects."

Eric and Calleigh walked up the steps to the James's front yard, kits in hand. A man was tearing down the crime scene tape that was stretched across the porch; a jumpsuit was pulled down to his waist.

"Excuse me!" Eric called, getting the man's attention. He turned around as they approached him and Calleigh could clearly see the logo of the private firm that the city contracted for crime scene clean-up.

"Did you already clean up the scene?" Eric asked, holding out his badge for the man to look it.

"Yeah." The man replied, gathering the tape into a ball in his hands. "My boss told me to come down and clean it up. Why?" He asked seeing their faces as the two CSI's glanced at each other. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No." Eric replied with a sigh as he slipped his badge back onto his belt. "You did exactly what you were supposed too."

The man shrugged as he reached back for his gear that he had left on the steps of the porch and then walked past them towards his dark red truck.

"Great." Eric said with a disbelieving look. "The only piece of evidence; gone."

"The photo should be enough for Stetler to back down." Calleigh told Eric.

"Hopefully." Eric muttered. He turned around as a car drove into the driveway. "Who's this?" He asked glancing over the car.

"The husband." Calleigh replied quietly as a tall, dark-haired man got out of the driver's seat. He spotted them immediately and started towards them. Behind him, Calleigh could see a young boy's face peering out of the car window.

"Hey!" Mark James yelled. "Who are you?"

"Crime Lab, sir." Eric replied, once again pulling out his badge and showing it to the man.

"I want you off my property right now." James ordered. "You people have done nothing but harass me when you should be out there looking for my wife's killer."

"That's what we're trying to do, sir." Calleigh replied.

Eric butted in before James could reply. "We'll leave. Sorry to disturb you. Calleigh."

Both of them turned around and walked down the walk and onto the street where the Hummer was parked across the street.

"What does he think we're trying to do?" Calleigh seethed. "If he used to be a cop you think he'd know how we follow the evidence."

"I don't think he cares about the evidence, Cal." Eric replied. "I wouldn't if my wife had just been murdered and the cops were looking at me for it when I didn't do it. And he didn't." He reminded Calleigh as he opened the driver's door to the Hummer.

"I know." Calleigh replied. She walked around the front bumper and opened the passenger, climbing inside the vehicle. "I just wish the evidence could point us towards someone who wasn't one of our own."

Back at the Crime Lab, both Horatio and Speed had retreated into their separate labs; both with tasks to accomplish. Speed had managed to get a hold of Alana's gun that was being held in evidence and was now testing it again to see if it was the same gun used in both of the murders.

While IBIS was searching for bullet matches, Speed was swabbing the gun in every surface imaginable to see if he could get a fingerprint or some DNA to prove that it wasn't Alana's gun. He placed the gun under the microscope and was studying the trigger guard when a thought stuck him as he came across the serial number.

He grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down the serial number of the gun before sliding his chair over to the computer and pulling up Alana's police file; all officer's profile's recorded the serial numbers of their duty weapons. He scrolled down and found the correct box. He grabbed the notepad on which he had written the serial of the first gun and compared the two numbers.

At first glance they seemed to match, but Speed took a closer look and then a slow smile spread over his face. He tapped on the keyboard again and entered in the serial number he had taken from the gun used in the murders. His eyes widened as he scanned the page that the search engine gave him.

Quickly, he printed out the results and went in search of Horatio.

Horatio had gone into the evidence lockup and had signed out all of Jennings's personal effects that had been brought over from his office and home. Ignoring the large pile of case files that had been taken from Jennings's home office, he instead searched through the boxes for a date book or journal; something to give him insight into the investigation.

He found a date-book and an address book. The address book held nothing of interest, but the datebook was full of names, places, meetings. Horatio flipped through the pages until he came to this week. Jennings's had a full calender this week as he was bringing two cases the trial, but a meeting on the morning when his body had been discovered caught Horatio's eye.

The meeting was set for ten-thirty with an A.H. Horatio grabbed the address book and flipped through it until he came to the H's; there was no A.H listed. Horatio put the address book down and picked up the date-book again. He flipped through the pages and then checked the pockets located on the beginning and end of the book. There were quiet a few cards tucked into both sides of the book and Horatio pulled all of them out.

Many of the cards were from police detectives, pertaining to past cases and such. One or two were for other lawyers and couple were from businessmen. But there were three that caught Horatio's eye; all three were for FBI agents. Horatio picked up the card for an Agent Andrew Henderson; A.H?

It could just be a coincidence, but Horatio didn't believe in coincidences. He might just have to call this Agent Henderson and ask exactly what he and Jennings were supposed to be meeting about.

Horatio looked up as Speed walked into the lock-up. He pointed to the date-book. "Take a look at this." He said.

Speed came over and bent over the table. "A.H." He said. Horatio placed the card down on the table. "Huh." Speed commented. "It looks like the FBI is all over this."

"What did you find?" Horatio asked.

"Way more then I expected too." Speed replied. "I looked over the gun and it was clean- except for Alana's prints- then I ran the serial number. Check this out."

He placed Alana's police profile on the table. "Here's Alana's serial number and here's the serial number of the gun that was used to murder Greg Jennings and Erika James." Speed placed the other paper on the table. "Take a look at the last digit."

Horatio carefully looked over both papers and saw what Speed was so excited about. "Alana's serial number ends with an eight. The gun that was used in both murders ends with a nine."

"Exactly." Speed replied. "I almost didn't see it myself. This proves that this isn't Alana's gun, but there's more. Look at this." He handed Horatio another piece of paper. "The gun belongs to an FBI agent who reported it missing almost a year ago."

Horatio glanced down at the paper in his hand. "I think I need to have a chat with the FBI. And Alana." He added. They both looked up as Eric and Calleigh entered the lock-up.

"Hey." Eric greeted them with a nod.

"How'd it go at the house?" Horatio asked, stacking up the evidence they had discovered while he looked at his team.

"Not good." Eric replied. "The cleaning team had already been there by the time we got to the house. The evidence is gone, H."

"Luckily, we were able to find some more evidence." Speed replied.

"What kind of evidence?" Calleigh asked with a questioning glance towards Horatio. Horatio quickly filled in the other two members of his team to what he and Speed had discovered and in the end both of them agreed that it was high time that someone talked to Alana.


	8. Part Eight Ending

CSI Miami: Targeted

Part Eight

The light in the conference room had darkened since Speed had been inside as the Miami sun was starting make it's gentle slide towards the treetops. Alana raised her head from where she had been resting it on her arms as all four of them walked into the room.

By the look on her face she knew that they had found something. She straightened up as they approached the table silently. "What did you find?" She asked quietly.

"Blood spatter." Eric replied, pulling out the chair in front of the table. He sat while the other's preferred to stand. Eric placed the photo of Erika James's bathroom door on the table. He slide it across the table towards her. "Calleigh found this." He explained.

"You're not tall enough to fit that blood spatter pattern." Calleigh continued as Alana picked up the photo. "This proves that you didn't shoot Erika James. Unfortunately, the Crime Scene Clean-Up came before they could actually get the evidence, but this should be enough for Stetler to back-down."

"That's one down." Alana commented in relief as she replaced the photo on the table.

"I also looked over the gun that was used to commit all three murders." Speed said. "You were right; someone was trying to frame you. The serial number of your duty weapon and this one didn't match. It's not your gun."

Alana breathed a sigh of relief.

"But here's where it gets interesting." Speed continued. "The gun was registered to an FBI agent who had reported it stolen over a year ago. Does the name Greg Burke mean anything to you?" He asked.

Alana shook her head. "Nope. Never head of him." She slide the photo back to Eric; her hand shook slightly as she did so.

Horatio caught the tremor, but didn't say anything. "We have a couple more hours until our deadline is up." He said instead. "This should be enough evidence to convince Stetler that you didn't murder Greg Jennings or Erika James."

"Thank you." Alana said, glancing at all of them. "This means a lot."

Eric gave her a smile as did Calleigh.

"Hang in there." Calleigh told her with a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

Horatio gave them a nod and all three of the them left the room, leaving Horatio and Alana alone. Eric closed the door behind them and then came to join Speed and Calleigh at the window.

"Do you think H is right?" He asked.

"I hope not." Calleigh replied quietly.

Speed didn't answer as he watched Horatio and Alana silently interact, but he agreed with Calleigh; he hoped that Horatio's hunch was totally wrong.

Horatio stepped towards the table, file-folder in hand. "There's more." He replied quietly in answer to Alana's questioning glance. "I did some digging into your partner's death. I managed to get a copy of the original case file. Greg Jennings was the one that gave you the means to investigate the corrupt cops with the promise that he would prosecute them when you where finished investigating."

"Yes." Alana confirmed, sounding slightly confused.

"Did you know he was working with the FBI because they thought that some of their own agents were also corrupt?" Horatio asked.

"No." Alana replied. She sounded shocked as she sat back in her chair. "I didn't know."

"He had a meeting with a Special Agent Andrew Henderson the morning he died." Horatio continued. "Apparently, he was ready to give the FBI everything that he had collected; the disc that we found under Erika's couch. Someone didn't want him to give that information to the FBI and we can only assumed that it was the same person who stole the disc and sabotaged the electrical systems."

"A corrupt cop." Alana speculated.

Horatio dipped his head in agreement. "Or an corrupt FBI agent." He suggested. "Alana, the FBI agent who had his gun stolen, Greg Burke? He reported his gun stolen a couple days before Steven was murdered by the masked men at your apartment. Greg Burke killed your partner, didn't he?"

Alana refused to look at him.

"He's also the one who hit you." Horatio continued. "Threatened you?" He asked. Alana looked down at the table, which gave Horatio the answer he needed.

"I can't help you if you continue to keep things from me." Horatio told her. "I need to know what's been going on."

Alana didn't reply.

"Alana, I know you stole the disc from the lab." Horatio told her gently. Alana glanced up at him in surprise. "I also know you gave it to Greg Burke." He continued. "I just don't know why."

Alana was quiet for a long moment and then she spoke. "You're right." She told Horatio. "He showed up at my house and told me that if I didn't give him the disc he would come after the entire team. That's when he hit me."

"What does he have on you?" Horatio asked quietly.

"When... on the night that Steven died... I grabbed the gun that one of the gunmen held... Burke..." Alana took a deep breath. "The gun went off and then next thing I know... Steven..." At this point she had holding back tears.

"Steven was on the ground and neither of us knew who had shot him. I thought I did it."

"IA cleared you." Horatio gently reminded her.

Alana laughed without any humour. "Apparently not." She replied. She took a deep breath and continued. "He would've killed me too, but he decided that I was more useful to him on the inside; someone he could lean on inside the department. That's when the FBI recruited me. They wanted me gather evidence on Burke and report back to them. I never would have agreed to it if I knew that it would go this far."

Horatio nodded. "Thank you." He said, acknowledging how tough it had been for her to come clean about this. He turned to leave the room.

"I imagine that this isn't all going to go away overnight." Alana said.

Horatio turned back to her. "No." He told her, being painfully honest. "Stetler can't convict you of the murders, but you did take evidence and lie to an investigating officer. I do what I can, but it's not going to be easy."

"When is it ever." Alana replied. "Tell me something. Did you know what was going on or was this just all a fishing expedition?"

"A little of both." Horatio admitted. He turned towards the door as it opened and admitted Rick Stetler. Eric, Speed and Calleigh were also behind him, the expression on their faces clear that they had tried to stop him.

"Time's up, Horatio." Stetler told him. He motioned to Alana. "They're ready for CSI Cooper down at booking."

"I think you might want to reconsider your position, Rick." Horatio told the Internal Affairs officer. "We found new evidence."

"Let's see it." Stetler ordered. "Because from where I'm standing the evidence is painted in black and white."

"Painted by someone else's brushstrokes." Speed muttered from behind Stetler.

Horatio handed over the file folder that contained all the new evidence that they had gathered. Stetler flipped through it and then looked up at Horatio. "I'm going to have to confirm this." He told them.

"Go ahead." Horatio replied. "But CSI Cooper stays here until we're finished."

Stetler motioned. "After you."

Stetler looked up from the folder as he finished reading the last page. "So you think that this FBI agent." He checked the paper. "Greg Burke is the one who killed Jennings and Erika James? And is trying to frame your CSI?"

"The evidence is certainly pointing that way." Horatio replied. "At the very least having Agent Burke's gun used in two murders is reason enough to ask him down for questioning."

"The door frame is certainly convincing." Stetler said, flipping to the photo.

"Blood spatter can't be faked." Horatio replied. "She's innocent."

"Of the murders, yes." Stetler admitted, closing the file. "This new evidence has convinced me of that, but the disc?"

"Alana has already admitted to me that she took the disc." Horatio replied. "Apparently, the FBI was the one's who hacked into our systems and caused the meltdown that destroyed Tyler's system. The original disc is in their possession."

"But you can't be sure." Stetler said. "For all we know Cooper is lying to us and she is working with this Agent Burke."

A knock on the door to Horatio's office had both of them looking up. A tall, dark-haired man in a dark suit was standing in the doorway, hand raised to knock on the door frame. "I'm looking for Horatio Caine." He said glancing from one man to the other.

"I'm Horatio Caine." Horatio replied.

The man walked into the office and extended his hand towards Horatio, which he took. "Special Agent Andrew Henderson; FBI." The man replied, introducing himself. "I hear you have one of my people in custody."

While Horatio took Stetler into his office, Speed slipped into the conference room. He needed to know if Horatio had been right; if his hunch had played out.

Alana smiled in greeting.

"I need to know something." Speed said, grabbing the chair and setting it down beside Alana. He sat down and composed himself before speaking. "Have you been lying to me from the start?"

"What?" Alana asked with a frown.

"Have you been working with the FBI behind our backs?" Speed asked.

Alana hesitated for a moment. "Yes." She replied finally. Speed stood from his chair and walked a few feet away from her. "But I didn't lie to you." Alana protested.

"You didn't lie to me?" Speed asked incredulously, spinning around. "I asked you outright who you were running from, Alana. All you had to do was tell me that you were helping the FBI catch your partner's killer."

Alana laughed shortly, incredulously. "All I had to do?" She repeated. "These investigations are classified, Tim. I couldn't tell you. You don't think I wanted too?"

"You should have." Speed shot back. "Doing this on your own was stupid. At least Horatio could've helped..."

"Helped what?" Alana interrupted. "Make it look like the evidence had just taken a walk? I know what I did and I knew the consequences."

"I'm not sure you do." Speed replied coldly. "You're going to lose your job."

"I know." Alana replied quietly.

"So sleeping with me was just... what? Cover? A way to distract me from finding out more about your double life?"

"Tim, please." Alana pleaded. "Don't go there."

"Oh, I'm going to go there, Alana." Speed pushed on. "Because we did; twice. I just need to know what that was."

"What that was?" Alana asked incredulously. "Come on..."

"No, you come on." Speed replied angrily. "I don't even know you, Alana. I thought I did, but I don't. I was right about you; the real Alana is just a screw-up."

There was a long silence as Speed's words echoed in the empty room. Neither of them moved for a long time; frozen. The door behind Speed opened and he turned around. Horatio and Stetler walked into the room followed by another man in a suit. Behind them were two uniformed police officers along with another suit.

"Henderson." Alana breathed at the sight of unknown man in the suit.

"Hello, Alana." Henderson greeted her. "I hear you're in some trouble."

"How did you..."

"Find out?" Henderson asked, interrupting her. "The search that one of your colleagues did alerted me to the fact that someone else was looking into Greg Burke as well." He looked to Speed, but addressed Stetler. "It would be better if we did this alone."

Stetler motioned for Speed to leave the room. Speed looked towards Horatio, who nodded in agreement. Speed glanced back at Alana before quietly exiting the room.

Calleigh and Eric were waiting outside. Speed jerked a thumb towards the room. "FBI's here. Horatio's hunch was correct." The news delivered, Speed turned and walked away from the conference room. He needed some air.

Calleigh and Eric were left staring after him in shock.

Back inside the conference room, it was all business. "The department has decided not to press charges." Stetler started off. "But I will need to ask for your badge, pending a full investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Department."

"I expected as much." Alana replied. She stood slowly and then unclipping her badge, placed it on the table in front of her. One of the officers grabbed her arm and she yanked it away.

"I don't need to be escorted." She snapped.

"We'll be taking her from here on." Henderson told Horatio and Stetler. "Alana will be in Witness protection until the trial. We arrested Greg Burke this morning with the stolen evidence from your lab. With Alana's testimony and your evidence, he'll be going away for a long time. Thank you for your cooperation."

Henderson gently took hold of Alana's upper arm. "Let's go." He said gently.

He took the lead as they left the room, his colleague joining him once they were outside the conference room. Stetler and two uniformed police officers followed them. Everyone turned to watch as Alana was led through the Crime Lab and out of the building.

Eric, Calleigh and Speed stood out front of the station. Eric looked angry and did Speed. Calleigh's expression was unreadable. Alana looked at them as she walked past. There was no forgiveness in their eyes. She turned away and continued down the steps to the FBI Agent's waiting car.

The backseat door was opened for her and Alana turned back to look at the building. Horatio stood in front of the doors, sunglasses held in his hand. He held her gaze until Alana dropped her eyes and stepped into the car.

The Miami sun beat down on Horatio as he stood on the front steps of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. He slipped on his sunglasses. The sun wasn't that bright, but he didn't any anyone to see the pain in his eyes at one of his own betraying the one thing that made them police officers: the oath they took to tell the truth, no matter what the cost.

He hadn't asked this job; hadn't wanted this job. He had been forced into a position of management and now he had to let one of his team go; a person he had trusted.

He had gotten word that Megan was coming back on Monday. Maybe she would want her old job back.

**-End-**


End file.
